Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 2007 Ambassadors

Shane and I were awarded the 2007 CFF Ambassadors the other night at a CF dinner. We feel VERY honored. Although-we feel like we should be thanking and honoring the CFF. They are working hard to find a cure for our little boy and so many others. For those of you who are unaware-Shane and I have been speaking at several different CF Foundraisers. I have lost count on how much money we were a part of raising...but the last event (in November) we raised $572,000 in one night. Over $350,000 of that was raised in less than 15 minutes. People are amazing and so generous!!!! We are forever thankful!

So frustrating!!

My wonderful toddler must have thrown some of his medications in the trash...or the medications have mysteriously grown limbs and walked on out of this house. Caleb is missing his Pro-Air treatment with it's chamber. Pretty much Albuterol with a chamber to dispense the medication to him. He gets it twice per day and it has been missing since Tuesday night. Shane called me at work asking where it was. It is no where to be found. That is fine not a big deal...right? So I contact the CF Pharmacy and they have them in stock and can order it for me and have it shipped out so I would receive it Saturday morning. Today the pharmacy left me a message to call "Ariel" at the pharmacy. When I called her back she was gone until Tuesday and Caleb's order did not get shipped because they needed payment first. Fine...but why did they not tell me this YESTERDAY!!! Now he won't get his med until maybe Thursday of next week. What gets me is that "Ariel" is the only one who knew anything about Caleb's order (even though I highly doubt that). And to add icing to the cake...the fact that they needed me to pay for it first is ridiculous. For those of you who do not know-Caleb is covered under our health insurance still but because of his medical bills we got him on back up Medicaid. Caleb was qualified by Medicaid because they deemed him "ill" enough for the insurance. At first it was a pride issue telling people that my son was on Medicaid. But honestly, he is not on it because we are poor or can't cover him with health insurance. Just our health insurance does not cover him fully because of all of his needs.

I guess I am just frustrated because they have what should be this wonderful CF Pharmacy back East...and I think it is full of empty human cavities. OOPS that was kind of mean Huh. But it is frustrating not being able to get the meds for your child to help him breathe. Which we all know-breathing is an essential part of life. I was not the nicest person on the phone with the CF Pharmacy today-but sometimes I have to be a Momma Bear first. By the way. Children's Hospital just called...and they have a chamber and the Pro-Air ready and waiting for me at King Soopers. The nurse also told me that I can order these chambers, without a prescription, on amazon.com. Who woulda thunk it?

And off he went...

Shane went ice fishing this past weekend with some buddies of his. They went up to Walden, which is over Cameron Pass (Shane has asked me not to disclose the exact location :) ). The wives of all the guys were a little nervous for their little get away because of the snow that continues to fall in the high country. But they went, they were safe, and they had a lot of fun. Between the five of them they caught between 30-40 fish. During the night wildlife stole the feast from outside the cabin. That's okay with me...I only like that kind of fish when Shane cooks it over a camp fire. The wildlife can have it...I bet they were pretty hungry anyway.




This is the cabin they stayed in.


The path from the cabin onto the lake.


Isn't he so cute! So proud of his fish :)


The boys

Thank Heaven for little girls!

And thank heaven Haley's nursery is finally finished!! Caleb's nursery was completed 4 months before he made his arrival. Haley just now got her nursery. I really did not want to do her nursery before she was born since we did not know what we were having when I was pregnant with her. And if she was a girl...I really wanted a girly nursery. But that alone was not enough for us to find out her sex before she was born. Caleb on the other hand was different. We did not find out his sex...but I knew in my "gut" that he was a boy. So his nursery was pretty much little boy. My Mom called me "gutsy". So here is Haley's room. I LOVE IT!!!!

Caleb's CF appt

Wow!! Caleb had his appointment today at Children's Hospital for his 90 day follow-up with the CF clinic. As you all know he has been ill this past week and had a pretty "wet" cough. The "main" doctor, Dr. Accurso was so impressed with him. Caleb's oxygen saturation's were at 97%, and his growth and weight are phenomenal (very unlike a CF patient). Because of his cough they are keeping him on his antibiotics for 30 more days. They are adding zantac to his daily pharmacy of meds. He has been on prevacid but he seems to have a lot of reflux. Zantac and prevacid can work together because they work different areas of reflux. He is also to keep doing his 3 therapies and 2 treatments a day until the cough is 110% gone. Dr. Accurso was very aggressive today with Caleb's meds and treatments. My only guess is it is because he has seen some pretty sick CF patients this winter. Dr. Accurso and his nurses and respiratory therapists told me that Shane and I are doing a very good job with Caleb. However, we take none of the credit. This is all God. Shane and I have been praying overtime for Caleb since the beginning. We may not have a million dollars in the bank...but we truly are the richest family out there.

How things change...

when you have kiddos. I was just reading Sara's blog and she stated that she can't imagine working full-time outside the house since Vince appeared in her life. Isn't that the truth?! I remember working like a mad dog before Caleb. I worked so many hours. I worked at FirstBank and was a Probation Officer for Northglenn and Federal Heights. I loved my Probation job...it was a lot of work...but I loved it. I always said I would never stay at the bank. But then something changed within me when I was pregnant with Caleb. A month before my due date with Caleb I resigned from my Probation job. I was sad...kind of. But I am so greatful now. My job at the bank has very little stress on me. The hardest part about my job is getting in the car and leaving. Once I am at work I am fine. Seven years ago I said that I would only work at the bank until I got out of college. Well I did that. Used my degree for awhile and then decided to hang it on a shelf somewhere in this kid invaded house. If I continued working in the Criminal Justice field I would be making a lot more money than I am now. But I would miss so much with my kiddos. I would miss things like: Caleb pooping in his diaper in the corner and not wanting me to make any type of eye contact with him; nursing Haley (that is our Momma and Haley time); Caleb wanting me to hold him when he doesn't feel well; and Haley wanting to be held just because. Or how about when Caleb pooped in his "little" potti and wanted me to take a picture of it...and then proceeded to cry when I dumped it in the "big" potti. I would never be offered enough money to miss these moments






















Don't laugh...I was like 7 or 8 months pregnant in this picture... :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year friends and family! Our little family has a tradition that my parent's started that we have taken on as our own as well. Christmas is so much fun and so busy that by the time New Years Eve comes around, Shane and I are ready for a little relaxing. We fondue all night long and watch movie after movie in our pajamas. We start the fondue at about 6ish and end whenever everyone is done. We fondue just about everything. Fruits in chocolate, meats in oil (including coconut shrimp, mushrooms, steak, pizza rolls, jalapeno poppers and chicken nuggets). We had a lot of fun as always. We even let Caleb stay up to see the new year in and he never showed any signs of being too tired.

Speaking of Caleb...he is still sick. It takes him awhile to kick any type of respiratory illness. He is getting better. He is on 2 breathing treatments and 3 chest physiotherapy's per day and antibiotics (in addition to his daily meds). Whenever he seems to be getting a cold etc, the doctor's put him on antibiotics almost immediately. He has gotten to the age where he wants to do everything himself. When it comes to his treatments I LOVE that he wants his independence. It can sometimes take up to 30 minutes for each treatment. With him wanting to do it himself allows me to get something else done at the same time. Caleb has an appointment at Children's hospital on Friday for his 90 day check up. I am so proud of him. He has been doing SO WELL!!! Thank you Heavenly Father!!

Caleb is not alone in his sickness. All of us have it. Even Haley has come victim to her first cold. It is really weird just letting the cold take its course on Haley. Of course we are cautious because of her age...but it will never be as scary as it will ever be with Caleb. I am nervous that she might end up with RSV. We will just keep close eyes on her.

Is everyone doing New Years Resolutions? I hate to do them. But I do try to think of what some practical goals may be:

*Growing a closer relationship to my Lord
*losing my baby Haley weight
*going on a date with my husband 1x/month (is that too much to ask for?)
*Read more books
*Read to my kiddos every day
*Hug more
*Speak at more CF Fundraising events
*Save more $$$
*Pay off a car (or two if possible)

Geez, what a long blog. Sorry about that. I guess I had a lot to say. I should just go to bed. I feel like junk and it is late.