A Merry Christmas it was indeed!

This Christmas was my favorite thus far for sure! Caleb was so full of excitement...I don't think his feet hit the floor for two days. It was so much fun to watch him be so excited for Santa but also know that it was Jesus' birthday. Caleb wanted the Imaginext Spike the Ultra Dinosaur for Christmas so badly. It nearly killed me to keep him in the waiting until Christmas morning. Haley follows everything that Caleb does. So with that came excitement within her as well. Last Christmas my little girl was just shy of 8 weeks old at Christmas...she just slept in her swing or a Grandma's arms the whole time. This year was so much different. She got a kitchen set from Santa and she immediately loved playing with it. One of her very favorite toys however, is her baby and the baby stroller.



Caleb was so tired Christmas evening...he had a very difficult time finishing his last treatment for the day.

Caleb goes into "dinosaur mode" pretty much all the time anymore.

What a princess! Posing in one of her new outfits! This one is very special because it has the matching hat...and at 14months old she knows it matches!

Caleb's new friend...Spike.

Give and you shall recieve...

The other day Shane asked me if he could take some of the $20.00 cash that I had in my wallet. He told me that some guys from work (including him) had "adopted" a family who recently lost the Dad due to a major heart attack. The family was losing their home to foreclosure (because he was the breadwinner) and the family car was also being reposed. Shane said he was going to use some of it to put into the pot of cash to purchase last minute items for the family. I told him to just put the whole $20 towards the family. Both Shane and I knew that $20 was a lot for us. However, we have so much...we could sacrifice $20 for a family who had lost so much, their Dad (and husband) and their home. Later that day I checked the mail and there was a letter from Children's Hospital thanking me for filing out a survey for their Shine Newspaper (I do not remember doing this at all) and with the letter was a $100.00 gift card to King Soopers. I was amazed! I almost felt guilty holding this gift card. I never imagined or thought God would bless us with something 5 folds of what we gave earlier that morning.

Another testimony of God's amazing heart.

So cute and it's FREE!

A personalized message from Santa to your little one.

http://PortableNorthPole.sympatico.msn.ca

And we are officially raising a boy!

Caleb has initiated us into having a little boy. Last Thursday evening Caleb was messing around at the top of our stair case. Before I could even tell him to stop...because he would get hurt...I witnessed him go head over foot all the way down 13 stairs. He was fine thankfully! He said his leg hurt and he hit his head-but nothing that was very concerning. When he hit the bottom our female dog, Savannah, came from another room and was pretty much laying on top of him kissing him before I could even get to him. She is a very sweet dog.

Then on Friday evening we were visiting with some friends at their Christmas party and their son and Caleb were back in one of the bedrooms. Well, have you heard the story about the little monkeys jumping on the bed? Yup that was Caleb and Caleb was the little monkey who fell off and bumped his head. This time we weren't sure if he was okay or not. He grew a huge goose-egg on the front of his head within seconds. Shane and I decided that because it was bedtime (or should I say-past his bedtime) and the severity of the swelling that we better take him in before we put him to bed for the night. By the time we got to the ER (and mind you we did have to stop and get him a Happy Meal from McDonalds...one of the benefits of having CF) the goose egg looked as though it had pooled with blood. He was officially diagnosed with a Hematoma and is fine. What was really funny was all the looks I was getting by the hospital staff because Caleb was in the ER at 11pm with a huge goose-egg on his head and he was enjoying a cheeseburger happy meal with a strawberry shake. I kind of humored myself watching all of these people just glare at Caleb's food and then look at me as if they were saying to themselves "Lady don't you get it? That causes childhood obesity" HEEEHEEE! I still laugh thinking about it. If they only knew. The day I see obesity as an issue with Caleb will be a wonderful day. So long story short...I finally gave in and mentioned to the 2nd doctor that Caleb has CF and he was hungry. The doctor smiled and said "You are doing great Caleb and did you take your enzymes with your Happy Meal?" (Caleb with his head down eating put his little hand and three fingers up) said "Yes. three of 'em".

Oh to be a mother of a little boy. I love it!

Annual Christmas Tree Cutting

Every year we make our way up to the mountains and hunt down our next Christmas tree. We always go to the Arapahoe/Sulphur National Forests (Winter Park/Frasier area). We go the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then on the way home we stop by Beau Jos' in Idaho Springs for some great pizza. Here are some pics from that day. (Thank you Aunt Courtney for taking the pics...otherwise we would have had zero pictures). The kids of course get cold and inpatient because it can take a LONG time to find THEE Christmas tree so we have snacks, movies and toys waiting in the back of the van for them. Once the kids are done looking we just go sit in the van and play until Daddy finds our tree with Aunt Courtney and Uncle Clint.

One's trash might be another's treasure!

That can hold a lot of truth to it! Shane and I have been brainstorming about some ideas for the 2009 Great Strides walk for Cystic Fibrosis. I know what you are thinking..."dang, Melissa, that walk is not until May". And yes you are correct. But with the economy the way it is the first thing that can feel the pinch of a penny is the non-profit sector. So this coming spring we are going to hold a GIGANTIC yard sale. All proceeds will go to the CF walk to help with CF research. As I have said before, there are amazing drugs/therapies in the pipeline that could potentially change the lives of so many CF'ers. But the money to continue the research can be very hard to come by. So these next couple of months keep an eye out in your home for things you wish to pass on and donate to the yard sale. I will send out more info in a couple of months with more specifics. To see what Caleb's everyday life with CF is all about please watch the 4 minute video at the bottom of my blog's page (it is best if you pause the music I have playing on my blog to hear the video). For more info on CF in general please visit: www.cff.org

So much to be Thankful for!

Well Caleb made another great turn. He seems to have finally kicked this "bug" that he has had for about 6 weeks. Shane and I are so thankful. Shane and I had several conversations with each other about Caleb's health these past few weeks. We knew that if he had to hospitalized it was undoubtedly going to be very challenging in so many areas of our family's life. It's challenging to watch Caleb be poked over and over and over again. It's challenging to keep him "quarantined" to his hospital room, it's challenging mentally for ourselves, it's challenging financially, it's challenging on having another little person (Haley) being passed around from family member to family member because Mommy is at the hospital with Caleb and Daddy still has to work. Although we are so thankful for our family members who stepped up to the plate and offered to give up vacation time and time with their jobs and responsibilities to help ease the challenges that we would be facing. Again, so much to be thankful for. God has given us so many reasons to be thankful. In an economy where people have been struggling to keep their jobs, Shane has maintained a work week of 52-56 hours per week. The bank I work for has reported earnings are up by 41%. And our children are most amazing miracles that have ever touched our lives. We are very thankful.

Finally an update.

Well it has been a little chaotic over at our house. We all got some stupid virus in October and it lasted for several weeks. Of course Caleb is still battling some germ. He is on his third round of antibiotics. He doesn't seem "sick" and whatever it is, is only hanging out in his sinuses which is causing him to cough a lot. Fortunately his lungs are clear at this point. But because of his sinuses he is now on a weeks worth of steroids. He is also doing 2-3 breathing treatments and vest treatments per day. If his sinus thing and cough are not100% gone by Monday then it looks like we might have to go inpatient for awhile. I am really praying that we don't have to stay in Childrens-but I also know that Caleb's diagnosis was every 6 months he would be inpatient for 14 days and we are so blessed because the last time he was inpatient was in July '06. So the reality might be that it is time for him to go in for what the staff calls "a tune-up".

Haley also caught this yucky virus bug and ended up with one vicious ear infection. It took 2 different antibiotics to make the darn thing go away. I didn't even know she had one until I took her in for her 12 month well baby visit. She never pulled on her ear and she wasn't whinny or crabby. I think this was the first ear infection we had in the house. Hopefully I will be better at recognizing one in the future.

Well it is Christmas time!!! My favorite time of the year and Shane's very busy time of the year with being a UPS delivery driver. These guys (and gals) work very long hours this time of the year (about 60 hours/week). It is great OT. So be nice to your wonderful UPS guy-he is one of Santa's helpers.

The other evening Shane and I were invited to the Breath Of Life Gala and Dinner for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We spoke at the Gala last year and this year we got to just sit back and enjoy our evening. It was amazing to say the least. In one evening we had raised over $668k for CF Research!! It was over $100k more than last years event. We were blown away at the generous hearts. In this economy no one expected to see such an amazing outcome. Caleb's doctor, Dr. Frank Accurso, was the honoree for the evening. He has worked so hard the patients of CF. He has done so much miraculous research. To sum it up in another Mother's words(whose child also has CF) "It is like holding the Golden Ticket when we think of what research might prevail in 2009".

Christmas Pics are done!! Part 1

Our Christmas pictures are done!!! I know I have been a slacker on our blog. Once I have a few moments I will post some updated news on the kiddos. In the meantime enjoy our Christmas photos.

The picture above is my very favorite.

Christmas Pics are done!!

Caleb and Haley with their cousin Addison. She is such a cutie!

Caleb's first Halloween party

And I don't think he was much of a fan. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt because he was sick. I don't think he really wanted to be at his preschool Halloween party.

Happy Happy Halloween it was...

trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa's
Caleb wanted to take the UPS truck trick or treating. Hahaha.
(Caleb was obviously a UPS Driver and Haley was a bumble bee. Notice Caleb socks...he had to have the UPS socks---so we made him some).


Halloween was so much fun this year. Caleb really got into it...and of course if Caleb likes it than Haley is right on board. We went to about a dozen houses-but I figured out that the little kids get a TON more candy than the big kids. We have SO much candy it is ridiculous. If I feed all this candy to my kids their tummys are going to hurt and their teeth are going to fall out. It was such a nice evening. Perfect weather and on a Friday night.

Happy Halloween!

Our costume pics will be up later. In the meantime have a spooky Halloween!

Addison Faith

I haven't ever had a picture that I could add to my blog of my niece, Addison Faith. Well here she is! She is a beauty, and the cutest little chunky monkey I have ever seen. I love her fat little thighs...her ankles are about the same size as her thighs! She is so sweet and a very good baby.

Happy Birthday To You!

This was her favorite present...thanks Grandma and Grandpa Keesey.

She is so sweet. She is so lovey-dovey (okay maybe just sometimes). She loves to laugh. She loves to run! Haley you have added so much to our family. I can't believe it has already been a year. Happy Birthday munchkin! Love, Mommy Daddy and Caleb.

Pumpkin Patch

This was our 3rd annual trip to the pumpkin patch. It was very neat to think back on the last year while we were there. When we went to pumkin patch last year I was 9months pregnant with Haley. This year...Haley was walking thru the pumpkin patch by herself. I won't ever have that cute little mug shot of her as a little baby next to a pumpkin...instead I have her first trip to the pumpkin patch with her walking thru picking out EVERY single pumpkin that she wanted to take home.

We were really impressed this year with the size of the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch. We thought Caleb would want a big pumpkin as well-but he decided he wanted a "silly" pumpkin instead.

Has it really been more than a month?

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. We have been so busy!!!!! We all currently have a pretty rough cold virus in our house. I took Haley to her 12 month (yes I said 12 month) Well Baby Visit and found out she had an ear infection. I knew she wasn't feeling very well...but really an ear infection???? That is a first in our house. So right now both kiddos are on antibiotics and have been home bound the last few days. I wish I was a kid again....I remember the days of laying on the couch or in my bed when I would be sick, with no reason to move. My only chore that day would be to eat an occasional bowl of soup, fight my Mom on taking NyQuil (I still will NOT take that nastiness of a medicine) and maybe taking a shower. Now-when everyone is sick and you are the Mom...you better get ready to never sit down...even if you are sick yourself.

More of Aspen

So we had a condo in Aspen. That was the best decision we could have made. We cooked our own meals and the kids had some room to cause chaos. Here are some pics of the condo. We had never stayed at this location before so I was a little nervous about the cleanliness of the condo. I am a little crazy about that and even more crazy about that when we have Caleb with us (and Haley for that matter). The first morning when we woke up there was a fox chasing a rabbit right outside our deck door. The kids didn't see the fox get the rabbit so they just thought that the rabbit and fox were playing.

The view out our deck door
Looking at the condo from the back side

In the winter you can ski in/out of your condo

The bedroom where the kids slept
The bathroom
The living room
The kitchen-and may I add it was fully equipped with dishes/silverware and pots and pans. Dishwasher and microwave.
Caleb doing one of his daily treatments.

Aspen

Our mini vacation to Aspen...

The picture above cracks me up. Shane had just caught a fish with Haley on his back. Look at Haley's face.
Unhooking the fish...
Caleb making sure the fish is up to his standards :)
Family photo time.

We had so much fun in Aspen this past weekend. We got up to Aspen on Thursday evening. On Friday Shane fished in the Celebrity Flyfishing Tournament that benefited the CF Foundation. The kids and I just walked around town until Aunt Courtney and Uncle Clint arrived. My sister and her husband came up on Friday to watch the kids for us while we went and spoke at the dinner that evening for the Flyfishing Tournament. I think we did better on our speech Friday night than ever before. We raised a little over $14,000 on a group size of about 50 people. I was again very moved by so many people's generous hearts. Here are some pics from the weekend. Shane will have more pictures of the actual flyfishing tournament later on. He was very ecstatic because he was on a boat the covered both the Frying Pan and Colorado Rivers. He has a flyfishing guide that would tie his flies on and untangle him when he got in a mess. Shane said it was one of his best Flyfishing adventures yet (great now the CF Foundation has him spoiled) :)