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.