These are the days of my life!!

Eli's surgery

2011-07-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

This is LeBonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis. Noah had his 3 eye surgeries here and now Eli with his surgery. It's an awesome hospital

Eli had a minor surgery in June and I'm just now getting the pictures posted. :) Now Eli can join the ranks among his brother and sister and say that he has had surgery and been in the hospital. Now that all 3 of my kiddos have had surgery I'm done with hospitals and surgeons for a while. Of course we still go for Julianna's follow-up appointments but no more surgeries for a while I hope.

We had to be there early and I think Eli was still asleep and also a little nervous

Daddy working while we wait

Mosaic tile art. They just built an entire new hospital and it is beautiful with all kinds of fun kid stuff to look at and do

Eli playing with the toy that he picked out in the Bunny Room

Child Life Specialist showing Eli the mask that will put him to sleep. He picked out strawberry scent

Daddy trying to play the game

We were there for about 3 hours waiting for his surgery

Off to the OR. I always hate this part. Watching your kiddo being rolled off to surgery is never an easy thing

He was so loopy but he was enjoying his popsicle

Ready to go home!

Broadway Bound

2011-07-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

Julianna had a fun time in dance this year at the Millington School of Dance. She loved going to class every week. I was really worried that she would not be able to participate in her dance recital because it was so soon after her surgery. Dr. Kelly reassured me at her post-op appointment that she in fact could participate so I was a happy Mama!. Here are a few pictures of her big night. The name of the recital was Broadway Bound and all of the songs were from Broadway musicals. I loved watching all of the kids from age 3 to 18 perform. It was an awesome night!!

I love them!! They are always so silly when I try to take pictures

Playing her Leapster while we wait for the show to begin

She loves her costume and loves to twirl

Sitting with her class waiting to go on stage

Mrs. Susan her dance teacher

Kisses from proud Daddy

Mrs. Bing the owner of Millington School of Dance. She is awesome and we love her!!

Family picture. Can you tell how tired one little boy is? :) It was in Memphis and didn't have enough time to drive back home, so we were there from 1:00 to around 8:30 that night. It was a long day.

Mamaw and Papaw came to watch

My Mom with Julianna

Pray for the Knost Family

2011-06-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

This is another Cranio family that I have gotten to know over the past 3 years. Her son Isaac is having his 3rd Cranio surgery tomorrow for multiple-suture synostosis. He will be 4 next month so I know what she is going through with an older kiddo having surgery. I also love reading her blog so follow her! This is taken directly from her blog so I take no credit. Just keep this family in your prayers as they endure another surgery for their son. Not only are Cranio kids tough but so are the families that stand by them.

My This N That Life: The Bug's Big Day

***I will preface this post with a warning. There will be two pictures in this post of a 3D CT scan of the Bug's head. Some people may find this to be graphic. There is also some description of the surgery that will take place. I don't think it's terribly graphic, but if you're squeamish, you may not want to read it.***

Yesterday, we spent the day at Riley Hospital for Children, "Bugsy's hospital." He had a 3D head CT in the morning and then an appointment with both his neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon in the afternoon. Some of you have been asking how the day went, so I thought I'd give you a rundown. (This is copied nearly word-for-word from an email I typed earlier, so it may read somewhat like a letter rather than a blog post. Sorry...didn't feel like rewriting!)

The CT went fine. He was NOT happy about the IV. They wrapped him in a sheet like a burrito...I had to literally lay across his body and hold onto the bed on the other side to keep him still even in the burrito! He is really strong! Anyway, it took 2 different veins and lots of digging before they got the IV in. It was funny, though...once the ICU doc that does the anesthesia came in it went fast! Bugs was asleep before he finished injecting the medicine...in mid scream he started snoring! Not exaggerating. I laughed. The scan only took about 5-10 minutes, and then he woke right up. He was groggy for half an hour or so, then we went to lunch and he perked up. :)

The appointment went pretty well. They are not going to be able to address the back of his head at this time, so he may or may not need another surgery after this one to correct the back. It will depend on how his head grows after this surgery. They are hopeful that the asymmetry in the back will become a purely cosmetic issue after this surgery, and we won't correct him for a cosmetic issue. For some reason (and it's VERY obvious in the CT) his head is growing up and back, but not forward at all. Comparing earlier scans, his face looks more "forward" now compared to what it way, meaning that his forehead is almost pulling back from the rest of his face. He has virtually no brow bone, and once again very little eye protection.

This is straight on from the front. Note the asymmetry of the sides and the height at the top of the forehead. There's also a very notable hole in the for

Straight on from the left side. You can see how far backward he's grown, here. (It's not as noticeable with skin on!) Oh...and the giant holes...

The gaps, which we thought were starting to fill in (and the surgeons did as well) are quite amazing. Ear to ear, aside from a small bit of bone just left of center, he's got about an inch wide headband where there's absolutely no bone. In the scan, you can literally see straight through his head. There is NO protection for his brain at all there. Just above his eyes, the width of his eyes (outer edge to outer edge) there's another spot that ranges from half an inch wide to an inch or side wide where there's NO bone. There are several other smaller spots as well, but for some reason, a large amount of the spots where they had to cut the bone are simply not healing. They don't understand why #1, he's reverting so much to his pre-surgical state, and #2, his bone isn't replenishing itself as it should.

For the surgery, as I said, they will not be able to address the back. With as much work as they are going to have to do on the front, there's simply no way they can safely position his head to work on the back as well. They will be starting at the front, above the eye sockets, and they will work their way back as far as they can safely go. They'll be able to use the same incision line, which they are actually surprised about with the way his head has grown. They were hoping to be able to cut out the scar and leave him with a pencil-thin line like he had after the first surgery, but that is very unlikely with what they are planning. They'll be moving his forehead forward to create a brow bone, widening him through the temples, and reducing the height. They're hoping to address some of the asymmetry on the sides as well, but not the back. They'll remove any existing hardware. He has several titanium screws and a titanium plate on either side of his head at the ears. (We didn't realize this...or didn't remember...who knows!) They will remove that existing metal and replace it as needed. There are some screws that have come lose and are tender to the touch, so they will take those out. (Yes, I did just say the Bug has some screws loose!)

As far as those gaps in the bone go, while they are still hopeful that they'll be able to fill them with "leftover" bone as they reconstruct, they are fairly certain that he will need a rib graft and/or titanium mesh to fill the gaps. IF they can take just one or two ribs and that be enough, they will do the rib graft. If it looks like they'll need more than 2 ribs, they will use the titanium mesh or a combination of ribs and mesh. They'll prep him for the rib graft whether they end up needing it or not. One concern they have for a rib graft for him is that ribs typically grow back, but since his skull bones aren't growing together as they should, they're not sure whether he'll regrow ribs, either. One or two missing ribs isn't a huge concern, though.

Likely the reason he continues to have headaches is that his nerve endings, especially in that headband region, are right at the surface. They would normally be covered by bone, but his obviously aren't. Once they cover the gaps, he should feel a lot better!

We're expecting about 12 hours in the OR again...2-3 hours to prep, 8-9 hours of actual surgery...12 total hours from hand-off to recovery. It's going to be harder for her to open him because she has to be so much careful with the "exposed" brain, but then removing the bone should be a bit easier because she doesn't have to make holes, they're already there. They're anticipating we'll leave the hospital either late Sunday or sometime Monday.

That's pretty much the gist of it. The neurosurgeon said we're "pros" at this, however unfortunately. She also said she's praying this will be his last surgery. :) Have I ever mentioned how much we love our surgeons??

For the next month, I will try to carry on as normally as possible in the blog world...but please be forewarned that the day of surgery I will be using this as a place to update all of you as we are updated, and will likely post several times. After that, at least for the next week, I may be updating daily or perhaps not at all. It'll depend on the progress and how we're all feeling. In the meantime, just know that we're ready for this. Some of us are more nervous than others, but we all know that God is in control.

And the Bug? The Bug is the most ready. He is ready for a "normal shaped head." He wants a "small head like Little Lou." It's almost game time. We're ready.

Pray for this family

2011-05-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Please keep this family in your prayers as they prepare for another Cranio surgery. This will be his 6th surgery. They are such a sweet family and I've gotten to know her through the CranioKids family and now Facebook. He will almost be 4 years old the day of surgery and this is all so different with older kiddos than babies.

My This N That Life: The Bug's Big Day

Pray for Saide

2011-05-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Please pray for this sweet little girl named Sadie. She is 4 years old and had surgery for Craniosynostosis last Thursday at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville. She has had a difficult time in recovery with throwing up and a lot of blood loss. You can read her entire story on her CaringBride page. Her Mama can explain it better than me. It amazes me how God works and how he used little Lucy to bring this Mom to me. Julianna and Sadie both have Craniosynostosis and we have become soul sisters because of our daughters. We have not met yet but living in the same state and taking our daughters to the same surgeon we are bound to meet one day. Never stop praying!!

Field Day

2011-05-09T19:11:00.001-07:00

My Kodak camera broke so I have been using my phone to take more pictures. I downloaded the Blogger app to my phone so I thought I would try it out. Here are a few pictures of Noah and Eli's Field Day last week at school. I LOVE their school!!!! Oh and I got a Nikon camera for Mother's Day and I'm so excited about learning how to use it.

Never a dull moment

2011-04-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

I tell ya there is never a dull moment around the Harber house. We have had a lot of rain here in TN along with strong winds and tornadoes. The sun finally came out the other day and we had several bird's nest in the yard. We were all outside and heard this chirping noise and then this mama bird flew down and started going crazy. There was a baby bird trapped in our garage and the mama bird was not happy with us being near it. Of course my animal loving son Noah had to rescue the poor bird out of the garage. After he rescued it the mama bird came back and the little bird followed it's mama out of the yard. The bird was either injured or too young to fly because it just hopped away and couldn't fly. :(

Noah trying to get to the baby bird

Baby bird

Daddy is helping out now

Letting it go, it was a little freaked out

Julianna wanted the baby bird to come sit in her hand

Noah caught it

He wanted to keep it but the mama bird was not happy

He was in love and that bird probably would have stayed there longer if mama bird hadn't come back

Mama bird keeping watch

Easter celebration

2011-04-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time today celebrating Easter at our house with the family. My parents, brother and his family all came over. John grilled out chicken and everyone pitched in and brought something to add to the dinner. We had garlic mashed potatoes, lima beans, baked beans, corn on the cob, bunny cake, cupcakes, lemon ice box pie and of course plenty of candy. Unfortunately we couldn't go to church this morning because Julianna still can't be around large crowds and Eli has been running a fever since Friday. He says nothing else hurts and Tylenol works to get it down but then it wears off and he still has a fever. I guess I will take him to the doctor tomorrow if he is still running a fever. Poor bubba :( After lunch the kiddos hunted Easter eggs that John and Uncle Charlie hid in the backyard. We added the Resurrection Eggs to the stash so we could tell the Easter story to them. They loved being able to open up these eggs and listen to the story of the resurrection. We had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Savior with our family!

Wendy and Claira are my nieces

All 5 cousins

My little loves

My parents

Ready to hunt Easter eggs

Uncle Charlie telling the Easter story

Dyeing eggs

Opening up Nannie's "Get Well" card

Picture Post

2011-04-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Very early Thursday morning still asleep in the hotel room as Mommy and Memaw get ready

Getting checked out before surgery

Her head is marked for surgery

Having a little anxiety before surgery

Coloring with Memaw

My sweet girl

Anesthesiologist talking to her before they take her back

Being silly

Still being my silly girl

Now Mommy is being silly

This just breaks my heart watching them take her away. She did great though and helped the doctor count all the butterflies as they walked

In recovery

Starting to run a fever and is getting really red. We had to strip her down and put ice cold rags all over her

In the PCCU with one eye already swollen shut. The first thing she wanted was pretzels and Sprite

Her incision and her drain

Sleeping so soundly

We got a smile out o her on the second day

My cousin Alesha and her husband Greg came to visit us all the way from Mississippi

Uncle Sam lives about 30 minutes away and he came to visit

Balloons from our CranioKids friends

Papaw and Memaw brought her some french fries and ketchup

On Friday her brothers, Noah and Eli, came to visit with Daddy. They had to stay at home because of TCAP testing at school

Playing her Leapster

Playing with Greg

Finally getting out of the PCCU and heading to a regular room

Going for a walk around the floor. She did not want to get back in the bed so she stayed in the wagon until bedtime

I just LOVE them to pieces

Meeting "Red" the hospital dog

Noah and Eli love watching these trains

Memaw bought Julianna a "Tangle" playset

Playing in the wagon. It was getting really difficult to keep her still

Watching TV in bed. She liked that Mommy and Daddy could sit in her bed with her

Going for a ride around the hospital on Sunday morning

Awwww fresh air. This is the first time Julianna or I had been outside since Thursday morning

Very cool mosaic tile dragon

Outside play area for the kids

They have an indoor playroom for each age group. This is the Infant/Toddler playroom

Lots of things to play with. They can choose what they want to play with and take back to their room

She chose all of this to have a tea party

Back in the room playing with her toys

She wouldn't stay in the bed long

Monday morning ready to go home!!!

Julianna's recovery-Day 4

2011-04-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was filled with lots of visitors and lots of activity. My cousin and her husband came all the way from Mississippi for the weekend to visit with us. She had so much fun playing with Greg. I was so glad to have them visit. It's hard being 3 hours away from family and friends. After they left our new room was ready and we were headed upstairs to a bigger room with a bathroom, shower and a bed for Mommy and Daddy. With this room both of us can sleep with her in the room and we can also eat in the room so now we don't have to leave her. Then Noah, Eli, Memaw and Papaw came back to visit us in our new room. We brought her upstairs in a wagon and she didn't want to get back in the bed so she stayed in the wagon all afternoon. We walked around the floor and went to the playroom. She is under a "high risk for fall" so we have to be careful and not let her walk around. She wanted to walk around so bad but we just couldn't let her do that. So last night Memaw gave her a Princess coloring book with some glitter Crayons and a Tangled playset. She was having a blast playing with her new things in her wagon of course. She tried to do too much yesterday afternoon so by the evening time she was in quite a bit of pain. She was really fussy. This time around is a lot harder with a 3 year old instead of an 8 month old. She was not as needy as a baby. Now she knows what she wants and is ready to tell us. She's very bossy! :) She does not like the nurses to flush out or draw blood from her IVs. I guess the pressure and the coldness of the saline or medicine is what she is feeling. Either way she cries every time. It just breaks my heart. This morning they realized that her IVs were not working anymore for blood draw so they had to stick her to draw blood. Not a happy camper!!! Then the doctor came in and wanted to take her bandage off of her incision where her ribs were taken. Again, not a happy camper!!! She wanted Mommy to help and I tried but the doctor ended up doing the job for me. Oh well I would rather her be mad at the doctor instead of me anyways. So this morning started off really rough but now we are sitting in her bed watching the Disney channell. We are going to get her out of the room today for a wagon ride and some play time. We might even go outside if it warms up out there.

Thanks for all of the prayers. She is healing and hasn't had any complications, other than the IVs. Please know that I'm reading all of the comments but I haven't had time to sit and respond to all of them. Like I said Julianna is really needy and wants us by her side at all times holding her hand. I'm sitting here typing this out right now in her bed as she holds on to my arm on one side and Daddy on the other side. She is in a betther mood now.

Julianna's recovery-Day 3 continued

2011-04-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Julianna had a good time yesterday afternoon with several visitors. She was really happy to see her brothers and daddy and show them how her cool bed works. She showed them all the buttons and what they did. The nurse took out her ART line last night so now she only has 3 IVs left. She slept through the night again, except when they came in to mess with her. This morning her drain came out. YAY!!! She was not happy about that process but she is doing great now. She is not eating that much but I probably wouldn't eat much either. Her left eye is still swollen but it is open. We are going to a room on a regular floor today and we are definitely ready to be out of the PCCU. We will probably be there for 2-3 more days. That just depends on how her head looks. Thank you so much for the prayers. She is doing great and is so strong it amazes me.

Julianna's recovery-Day 3

2011-04-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

Last night Julianna had a good night. She slept for most of the night and pain was really well managed. This morning is a different story. :( Her left eye is swollen completly shut and she does not like that at all. Her right eye is beginning to swell but I'm hoping that it stays open so she can watch her movies. She is loving watching all of her movies that we brought. That is the only thing keeping her going. She is really fussy today and very sensitive. Whenever anyone touches her she cries. She keeps telling us she wants to go home. Memaw and Mommy are also very sensitive today. We cry every time she cries. I think it's going to be a rough day for everyone. Daddy, Papaw and bubbas are all coming today and she is excited about seeing them.

Julianna's recovery-Day 2

2011-04-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much everyone for the prayers and for keeping us in your thoughts today. It has been a rough day as expected. She has been running a fever on and off and in and out of pain today. She has been eating, going to the bathroom and watching movies all evening. She is alert and we even got a smile out of her tonight. She is doing great all things considered. The next couple of days will produce swelling and more pain but they are awesome here at Vandy and doing a great job at keeping her comfortable. I'm trying to sit down and write out a blog post but I think I will try and get some sleep and write it all out tomorrow. Thanks again!

Julianna's 2nd Craniosynostosis surgery-Day 1

2011-04-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Julianna in recovery right after surgery

We are actually on day 2 of recovery but the internet has been down due to tornadoes and bad weather. I had a post all written out and my internet went off and I lost everything. :( Julianna had her surgery yesterday morning and it lasted 3 1/2 hours. She was stable throughout the entire procedure. Dr. Kelly was able to use 2 of her rib bones as grafts for her forehead and eye brow and then he used a plate to cover up the hole on the left side. She was running a fever on and off all day and got really red at one point. She wanted to get up out of bed and then realized that it hurt when she moved. :( For the most part she slept all day and into the night doped up on strong pain medicine.

Day 1 and 2 of Christy's vacation

2011-04-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

The first time they have seen each other in 30 years

We made Nanny sit down and close her eyes to wait for her surprise.

She was so excited to see Christy

We all let them talk for a while

Each side of the family made Nanny a photo album for her birthday

All 22 of us went to church with Nanny

Christy, me and my brother Charlie. My other 2 brothers couldn't make it

My brother, Charlie, drew this picture for Nanny. The original picture is of my Nanny and Papa.

The grandkids minus 3 that couldn't make it

The great-grandkids. Noah is holding a picture of Christy's boys that couldn't be there

My dad, Nanny, Aunt Dee and Uncle Jim (my dad's sister and brother)

The Forrester family.

Nanny had a wonderful time at her 90th birthday party. She said that it was the happiest day of her life. She was so excited to see Christy because she thought that she would never see her again before she died. It was a great weekend!!

This should be a Lifetime movie

2011-03-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have a sister, Christy, that I hadn't seen in 30 years until 2 weeks ago. Wow!! I guess I should explain the long story so you will understand why I believe it should be a Lifetime movie. Here is the story that has been told to my by my Dad, grandmother and my mother.
My entire life I've known that I had another sister and that she was taken away from us by her mother. My Dad had full custody of my sister Christy because her mother was abusing her and was abusing drugs. Dad was in the Airforce and was away preparing for Vietnam and my grandmother was taking care of my sister. My dad's ex-wife had visitation on the weekends and could take Christy and then bring her back when the weekend was over. One day she came and got her and never brought her back. My grandmother notified my dad of what happened and he had to get a discharge from the Airforce to go and find his daughter. He hired a private investigator and they searched and searched. They were never able to find her and he was heartbroken.
The years passed and he didn't have the money to keep up the search.
One day his ex-wife sent a picture of Christy to my dad and nothing else. She was not even 2 when she took her and in this picture she was around 5 years old. My dad again tried to find her but again could not. 10 years pass and she finally contacts my dad and asks for child support. WHAT??!!! EXCUSE ME!!! Yes that is what she did, some nerves I say. My dad agrees to this only if he can see her and have her come and stay with us for the summer. ( I should say that by this time my dad had married my mom and I was around a year old). She agrees to let her come. By this time they live in Oregon and we live in TN so she would have to fly. She got to come and visit us when she was 11 and when she was 13. That was the last time I saw her until a few weeks ago.   A lot of other stuff happened and her mom ended up kicking her out of the house at 15 so we never got to see her again. Then time passed she got married and started a family and life went on for all of us. I would write her here and there and try to keep up but I never could keep in contact for long. I blame myself for not trying to stay in contact and that is something that I really regret.
One day I'm on Facebook and I received an email from my sister. I was so shocked and excited all at the same time. I couldn't write her back a response fast enough. She was so nervous about contacting me and wondered if I remembered her. Of course I remembered her and I was so excited. We started chatting back and forth on FB and then I started calling her. I could tell that she was very bitter toward my dad and I wanted to tell her his side of the story but I would leave that for him to tell.
I wanted to meet her and get her on a plane to TN as fast as possible. I talked to my mom and dad about it and they said that it would be a wonderful surprise for my grandmother's 90th birthday party in March. So we all decided that Christy would be on a plane in March for Nanny's surprise birthday party. I was so excited!!!!
The week she was here was definitely not long enough but it was an amazing week. She got to talk everything out with my dad and wounds have begun to heal. :) I wish she didn't live so far away and that I could spend more time with my sister. I often wonder how different things would have been growing up with a sister instead of 3 brothers.
The next few posts, and I say few because there are a lot of pictures, will be of pictures of our week together.

My heart hurts today

2011-03-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Kathryn with her husband on their honeymoon

The day of her wedding she was in extreme pain and had to be held up by her dad and Daryl. You can't tell by looking at her beautiful face but she was in so much pain.

My sweet friend, Kathryn, passed away early this morning. She was 34 years old and was born with Cystic Fibrosis. She had a lung transplant 3 years ago and this was her new hope. She died today from a bacterial infection that spread rapidly through her body shutting down her organs. It's so sad to know that she died of something that wasn't related to her lungs or Cystic Fibrosis. I have known her since the 4th grade. She was an amazing Christian woman and I'm so glad that I had a chance to know her.

Rest in peace my sweet friend. You are forever healed!!

More surgeries

2011-03-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very overwhelming and emotional day. We were able to get out of town before the bad weather hit in Atoka and arrive in Nashville before it hit there. I drove in the rain all day but we were clear of tornadoes. :)

I met with Dr. Kelly and he was able to look at her scans and feel around on her head. He is very concerned about the large hole on the left side of her head and across her forehead. He said that if she fell and hit these spots it "could lead to brain damage or even death". Wow those words scared me to death. I wanted to try and wait until this summer after her dance recital but he said that it needed to be done as soon as possible. He said that if it was his daughter she would be in surgery tomorrow, so he scheduled her for the next available surgery on April 14.

This surgery will involve cutting out some of her rib bones and using them to fill in the empty spots in her skull. This surgery scares me worse than her first surgery at 8 months old. She is a very energetic and smart 3 year old. She knows that something is going on with her head and she knows that something is going to hurt her. It just breaks my heart that her head is not cooperating and we have to watch her go through this all over again.

The second surgery will involve titanium plates and screws going over the hole in her forehead and also reconstructing her left eye orbit. Basically when her sugar plates and screws started to dissolve her skull should have been regenerating itself and filling in all those empty spots, this did not happen. So as her skull started to grow these holes just got larger. This is one of the many complications that can happen and it is nothing out of the ordinary. We were told by Dr. Kelly when we first met with him that multiple surgeries could happen and it would just depend on how her head would heal and grow.

There could possibly be a third surgery after everything is done growing when she is around 8 years old. This will all depend on what her skull decides to do as it grows. Dr. Kelly says that the skull of Cranio kids always wants to go back to the way it was before the first surgery.

This was a lot of information in a very short period of time. I'm going to email him and have him explain everything to me again. I just want to know exactly what is going to happen to my baby girl. This is all so scary and I'm an emotional wreck right now. I've done a lot of crying today. :( For right now this is the information that I could remember.

Pray for Lucy

2011-02-25T15:19:00.000-08:00

I do not know this little girl or her family but they live about 10 minutes up the road from me in Covington, TN. Yesterday I received several prayer requests for this family from my Sunday School class at church, from the FaithWalk community that I'm involved in and from several friends on Facebook. Lucy is having surgery today at LeBonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis to remove several cancerous tumors from her brain and spine. I just saw an update on FB that she is out of surgery and in recovery. I will update more as soon as I know. Please keep Lucy and her family in your prayers.

Julianna's CT scan pictures

2011-02-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

Today we went to LeBonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis to get Julianna's CT scan done for her appointment with her Cranial Facial Surgeon in Nashville next week. I was really nervous about this appointment because she is now 3 and old enough to know some of what is going on. She got up this morning wanting breakfast and she couldn't have any because she had to be sedated for the scan. She was fussy once we got to the hospital because she said she didn't want it to "hurt". It just made my heart hurt to know that she understand that something was going to hurt her. I knew she was probably feeling some of my anxiety. I came prepared to distract her though so we got out the crayons and coloring book. Then we did some dancing, her favorite thing to do, and watched some TV. We were there for about 2 hours before they got to us but she was enjoying her time with mommy.

I now have to wait a week before I know for sure what these pictures mean. All I know is that the hole across her forehead has gotten larger and spread. This time last year it was just over her left eye and now it is almost all the way across her forehead. It has become noticeable on the outside now and when you look at her straight on you can see the shift in her eye orbits. She also has a very large hole on the left side of her head that has gotten bigger over the year. I'm really concerned that these holes have not gotten smaller like they are supposed to. Needless to say I'm very anxious about this next appointment. Dr. Kelly told me last year at her appointment that if the holes got bigger and didn't start filling in on their own then Julianna would need another surgery to fill in all of the holes. This is not what I want to happen but if it does I know she will be grateful for it when she is older. Here are some pictures of her scan today. :( It really scares me to know that she has so many open holes in her head and she doesn't even wear a helmet. I think I will go and buy her a bike helmet just to keep her safe. I might even wrap her in bubble wrap. :)

Valentine's Weekend Getaway

2011-02-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

John surprised me at Christmas with a Valentine's weekend getaway at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. I have been looking forward to it now for over 2 months. Both of us have lived in Memphis our entire lives and we have never stayed at, or really been inside, the Peabody. This is a very old and very famous hotel known for the ducks that swim in the fountain all day. The ducks are marched down every morning at 11:00. They swim in the fountain in the lobby until 5:00 when they are marched back to the elevator and taken up to their rooftop penthouse. It is so neat to watch these little ducks enjoy all of the attention. I'm going to take the kiddos to see them this summer they will love watching the ducks.

We had a fabulous time. We ate at the Capriccio Grill Italian Steakhouse for dinner and then at Cockadoos for breakfast. Both had amazing food and we are definitely going back downtown soon to eat. :)

Memphis bridge

The mighty Mississippi

Lobby fountain with the ducks

Our room on the 8th floor. We were on the corner and had a view of the Red Birds stadium

Their bed is called the "dream bed". Oh my it was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on and the pillows were awesome. They sell both on their website. I'm definitely buying the pillows!!

Nanny

2011-02-15T20:55:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

This is the photobook that I put together for my grandmother's 90th birthday in March. It took me awhile to get all these pictures organized and to include everyone and their families. My cousin also made one for her side of the family. She will now have pictures of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I hope she will be with us for many more years. She is turning 90 in March and is still going strong. She is an amazing woman. I love you Nanny!!

Hurricane Harber

2011-01-31T19:57:00.000-08:00

Julianna, or Hurricane Harber as we like to call her, is our 3 year old bundle of energy and mischief. She is like a hurricane because she leaves a trail of destruction wherever she goes. She is so girlie yet she can be tough like her big brothers. She has been through a lot in her short 3 years of life and she will be a strong woman someday because of it. She loves to serve us tea and play mama to her baby dolls. Twirling is one of her favorite things to do along with swinging. Her favorite colors are pink and purple but to hear her say it she says, "I like pink but I LOVE purple". :) She is so precious! She got her nails done for the first time last week with me and she asked for one hand to be pink and the other hand to be purple. Of course!

We are coming up on her yearly visit with Dr. Kelly and I'm happy to report that this year has been free of any major incident. No crazy swelling, not too many bumps to talk about, except a black eye but it healed with no problems. She is taking dance now and that has mama very nervous but she is loving every minute. We will be going to Lebonheur February 21 for her her 3D CT scan and then off to Nashville for her appointment on February 28. I'm still not happy with the way her forehead is looking and that is something that I will be discussing with Dr. Kelly. He said that if he needs to fill in any of the holes he will do it before she starts Kindergarten. Her holes have not gotten any smaller, according to my unscientific readings, but the CT scan will be able to tell what is going on. :)

If you are reading this for the first time and you would like to know the entire story click on her Caringbridge site.

Here are a few pictures of Julianna. She is getting to be such a big girl. :(

Cub Scout Pinewood Derby

2011-01-30T17:36:00.000-08:00

Noah and Eli have been building their cars with Daddy over the past few weeks. They have been cutting, sanding, painting and decorating to make the perfect car. Noah wanted his car to look like Jeff Gordon's race car, red and blue with flames. Eli wanted a Lego car since that his is favorite thing to do. Eli's car ended up being really fast and he won 2nd place in the Tiger Den. Noah's car wasn't quite as fast and he won 4th place in the Wolf Den. They had a blast this weekend racing their cars.

I LOVE VBS!!!

2011-01-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

Vacation Bible School is one of my favorite times of the summer. I have been teaching VBS since I was a teenager and I always look forward to the next year's theme. This year's theme is "Big Apple Adventure: Where faith and life connect". The theme is in honor of the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 so the decorations are all things New York. We were able to get some great ideas for decorations and I can't wait to start planning my room. This past weekend was the preview of the VBS material and music at Lifeway in Nashville, TN. I had a blast and it was so awesome to actually meet Jeff Slaughter, who has been writing and doing the choreography for the VBS music for the past 15 years. Here are few pictures from my awesome weekend.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

2011-01-23T19:34:00.000-08:00

I'm a HUGE Alabama fan!! I have been a fan since junior high thanks to some guys in the youth group at church. I got the chance to go to a game this year with my dad and brother, Ben who is also a huge fan. We had a blast and the game was an awesome win against Mississippi State.

Dreamland is a Tuscaloosa landmark. If you go to a game in Tuscaloosa you have to eat here. They only serve ribs, so don't ask for anything else, and also some awesome banana pudding.

Me and my baby brother Ben

Me, Ben and Dad waiting on the ribs

White bread and bbq sauce. Can't get anymore southern than that

We had awesome seats right on the field about 20 rows up

Fun at the circus

2011-01-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

Barnum and Bailey circus came to Memphis in December and we just had to take the kiddos. The last time we went to the circus was when Noah was around 2 years old and Eli was a baby so he didn't go. Eli and Julianna didn't even know what a circus was until we got there. Eli kept asking where the rides were because he thought it was like going to the fair. :) He is so cute! This was a one ring circus with a bit of magic. It wasn't the big circus we expected but it was still pretty cool. We arrived an hour early to meet the clowns, animals and acrobats. The kiddos got to be a part of the pre-show and they had a blast.

Bringing in the New Year at Noon

2011-01-13T17:48:00.000-08:00

I know I have said it before but I'm going to say it again, we LOVE the Memphis Children's Museum. They have a New Years at Noon celebration every year and this is the second year we have gone. Each year they have a theme and this year it was a Safari theme. They set up tables all around the museum so the kiddos can make different things as they play. They line the kiddos up and dance around the museum at around 11:30 and then everyone is ready for the clock to strike ~~midnight~~ noon. :) We all countdown and then balloons, candy and small toys are thrown for all of the kiddos to catch. This is such a fun time for the kiddos and they are looking forward to it next year. Thanks CMOM!!!

First snow of 2011

2011-01-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

I have never seen so much snow in my life around here but we are getting a lot of it over these past few years. This morning we woke up to about 6 inches. The boys already knew school was canceled because it started snowing last night. They were so excited about getting out in it and sledding down our hill. It's a great family day at home.

Year In Review (well the the rest that I didn't have time to post)

2011-01-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

We have definitely had a busy year here at the Harber house. My "Becca's Bows and more" business has really grown and I've been really busy. The kiddos have been busy with school, sports, dance and Cub Scouts. John's business has really grown over the past year and we are really grateful for that. The Lord has been watching over our family this past year and we have been able to watch Him work. Enjoy my year end review through pictures!

The first few are pics of some of the things I've made over the past few months.

Cub Scout night out at the Corn Maze

John and I went to see "Wicked" for the first time at the Orpheum in Memphis. It was awesome and I can't wait to see it again.

The Harber clan all decked out for Halloween. Our neighbors across the street always throw the best Halloween party. This pic was taken at their house. We had a blast.

Noah's 2nd grade class field trip to the Memphis Botanic Gardens

Julianna's 3rd birthday party, Tinkerbell of course.

A couple of things I made for the local high school volleyball coach

Daddy and Eli carving the pumpkin

Count Chocula

Noah's 8th birthday. His favorite show is Avatar:The Last Airbender so I planned the party around the show. He said it was the best party ever!! I'm such a proud mama.

My mom and dad had a Halloween party to go to after Noah's party so they were dressed up. They are hilarious!

Earth bending with clay

Fire bending with marshmallows

I divided them into the 4 nations when they arrived. Earth, fire, water and air!

Water bending with water balloons and air bending with football darts

Halloween night out Trick-or-Treating around our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is so awesome people actually make a point to drive over here to get all the good candy.

Rain gutter Regatta with the Cub Scouts. Eli didn't place but Noah got 2nd place.

Zoo Lights at the Memphis Zoo

The kiddos got to cut down their own tree this year and decorate it with their ornaments. They were so proud. Mama got her own tree this year to decorate just the way I wanted.

Ballerinas & Cub Scouts

2010-10-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Julianna started dance at the beginning of the school year. She is loving every minute!

The boys started Cub Scouts this year and have already been on two camping trips. John is Eli's Den Leader and I think he is having just as much fun as the boys.

Siblings are included in everything the Scouts do and Julianna is loving being an Honorary Scout

Eli was chosen for the skit. He wasn't happy with me after.

Their first camp out was at Fort Pillow

The second camping trip was to Spookoree at Camp Mack Morris in Camden, TN at the Boy Scout camp ground. Even mommy went on her first camping trip. I didn't get any sleep but it was a fun weekend.

The magician juggling fire on opening night

All 3 Harber kiddos asleep in the tent. We have a huge tent that we were ale to put two queen size air mattresses in. The kiddos slept on one and we slept on the other. It was nice and cozy, but I'm such a lite sleeper so I didn't sleep much with all of the snoring by other people around our tent and tossing of my kiddos.

The pirate from the haunted pirate ship.

They told the legend of the camp and had the boys find buttons from his uniform that the ghost had stolen and hidden around the camp ground. We didn't find any.

Noah BB gun shooting

Eli getting ready to shoot

The corn maze. It was short and we turned the right direction and didn't get lost so it didn't take us very long to go through it.

Noah learning to shoot a bow and arrow

Eli's turn with his bow and arrow

Noah learning to shoot a sling shot

Daddy helping Eli with his sling shot

Noah throwing his spear

Eli throwing his spear with Daddy's help

Julianna was such a little trooper. She didn't understand why they wouldn't let her have a BB gun or bow and arrow.

Eli with Cub Master Dan shooting with the paintball gun

Noah's turn at the paintball gun.

Julianna found one of the camp dogs to play with

The boys watching as their walking sticks are branded with the camp logo

Eli with his walking stick. These are very special and they will use them all the way through their scouting journey.

Disney Vacation

2010-08-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at Disney World. Of course we had to go in July probably the hottest time of the year but we endured it. We got the 4 day park hopper tickets with the 5th day free. We were hoping to do all 5 days but the kiddos didn't last. It was so hot and humid that the heat just drained all of us. We ended up going to Magic Kingdom all day the first day and half a day on the second. By Wednesday we were worn out but we had breakfast planned at Ohana with Mickey Mouse, Lilo and Stitch. Breakfast was the highlight of the day and we should have gone back to our condo for a relaxing day but we chose to go to Epcot. It was fun but we just didn't have the energy for it so we only lasted for half a day. Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom and it was by far my favorite park. Friday we really wanted to go to Hollywood Studios but we just didn't have the energy for one more day at Disney. We just hung out around the pool, went school clothes shopping at the outlet stores and packed up for the long 15 hour drive home. We also celebrated my dad and Eli's birthday that week. That is why we were eating all those cupcakes. Eli was born on my dad's birthday and it is fun to celebrate together every year. Eli was excited that he got to have his birthday celebration at Disney World. He even had a garbage can named "Push" come up and sing Happy Birthday to him. He thought that was the coolest thing ever. It was fun trip and one that I'm sure the boys will remember.

I'm such a horrible blogger

2010-08-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

I am such a horrible blogger it has been 5 months since my last post. That is just crazy! Well it has been busy in the Harber house to say the least. Since my last post we met with Julianna's surgeon and he said that everything looked great. We still do not know why the swelling happened but it went away on it's own and has not returned. Praise the Lord!!

Here is a run down of what we have been doing over the past five months, and of course it will be in pictures. :) This is a little bit of everything from Easter, basketball, spring break, field trips and field day, end of the school year activities, a major flood in TN and some of my sewing and bows. ENJOY!!

Eli getting his first basketball trophy

Noah getting his 2nd basketball trophy. Don't ask me what is going on with his hair. I really do not know what to do with a boy with curly hair.

My business has really been picking up and I've been sewing and making bows like crazy.

Easter! Yes this is the best out of 5 pictures that I took. I have just come to the conclusion that with 3 kiddos I will never get all of them looking at me and smiling all at once.

It's even harder with 5 kiddos.

Helping Daddy plant our garden. We have had some wonderful squash, okra, watermelon, corn and cantaloupe

Julianna playing at the Memphis Children's Museum, one of our favorite places. We spent a day of spring break here.

Looking at the water beetles swimming around

Future architect

Spring break at the Memphis Botanic Gardens

Playing in one of the many cute houses at the My Big Backyard exhibit at the Botanic Gardens

Family picture on Easter in my parent's backyard

Playing in the music house, this one was my favorite

Waiting for roasted marshmallows

Noah is a pro just like his mama

Spring has finally arrived and my tulips and daffodils have bloomed

Eli was a chicken in his school program

Noah standing proud in front of his name on the Honor Roll wall

Eli has lost his first tooth

Field day

We have armadillos in our flower bed. Who knew they were in TN?

Our beautiful mammoth sunflower

One of the worst floods TN has seen. This is what we woke up to after sitting in the closet the night before because of tornadoes. This is just a few miles from my parent's house. They had water 2 streets over from their house and thankfully it didn't get to their house.

This is the street we take to get to my parent's house.

Daddy watching the weather to see where the tornadoes are.

Noah's field trip to the Lichterman Nature Center. Yes that is a live snake.

Noah's class

She's so sweet when she's sleeping

Soccer bow order for a team in New York

Eli graduated from Kindergarten, this is his teacher Mrs. April

Noah and his teacher, Mrs. Bonds, on awards day. He made Principal's List, straight A's, all year long.

VBS this year was called Saddle Ridge Ranch so of course living in the country our church members brought out their horses. The boys loved the horses.

Julianna on her "horsie"

Eli on his horse. His classic "Elvis" look when the sun is in his eyes.

Homemade water park!

Eli at Camp Invention with his robot.

Noah at Camp Invention with his robot. They both had a fun week.

She thinks she's so big and in this picture she actually looks older.

My biggest bow order to date were for a local cheerleading team in Arlington, TN

And my last big bow order! 52 cheerleader bows done!

The kiddos waiting on us to finish packing the car to head to Disney World. They each had their own game system plus a DVD player in the car. We were ready for Disney! More Disney pictures to come in another post.

Here we go again :(

2010-02-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

We spent Saturday night in the ER with Julianna. She has developed a huge spot, about the size of my hand, full of fluid on her head. The term for this is called Hydrocephalus. She was also running a really high fever of 104 so that is why I decided to take her in to see if the two were related. The ER doctor didn't think that the fever was related to the hydrocephalus but he also didn't know what was causing the fluid to build up. So we left with no answers to the many questions we had about our beautiful daughter. For those of you that are new to my blog Julianna was born with a condition called Craniosynostosis where the plates in the skull fuse together too soon and do not allow for proper growth of the brain. If left untreated it could cause blindness, deafness, and many developmental delays. She had surgery to relieve pressure from her brain when she was 8 months old and has recovered beautifully until now. If you want to read her entire story go here. I also have a video montage of her cranio journey on the right side of my blog.

So today we met with her Craniofacial surgeon at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital to finally get some answers. Well we left with a little bit of info and also were told to get a 3D CT scan so that he could tell what was really going on. He said that it looks like her plates are starting to shift and possible overlap which has caused a tear in the membrane that is causing the leak of fluid. He also said that she still has quite a few soft spots that should have already filled in but have not yet. He said her head should be pretty close to solid by now but for some reason she is not growing enough bone to fill in the empty holes. He is more concerned about this than about the fluid building up which about freaked me out.

We "might" be looking at the possibility of another surgery which just breaks my heart to even think about. Please keep us in your prayers as we go through the next week or so getting scans and results to see what the future holds for our precious Julianna.

11th Anniversary

2010-02-08T07:36:00.001-08:00

We were married 11 years ago on December 12th during my favorite time of the year. I absolutely LOVE Christmas time. We went to Music City Nashville, TN and stayed at the Opryland Hotel. We were both miserably sick with sinus infections but we had fun regardless. It even snowed while we were there. We went to the Oprymills Mall on Saturday for some last minute Christmas shopping and then to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night to see the Rockets. It was fun to get away for the weekend and enjoy some time without the kiddos.

Christmas update with LOTS of pictures

2010-02-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Wow what can I say we had a wonderful and very busy Christmas season. This is a run down of it in pictures. Believe me I have a lot more pictures but this is just the basics. I know y'all don't want to see all 5,000 pictures. :) Enjoy!!

This is John and his nephew Jed who gave him the ugly TN Snuggie. I'm a huge Alabama fan so to me that thing is hideous.

We had the Harber family over for dessert and coffee. Oh my all of the desserts were so yummy.

We go to Mississippi every year to my Uncle Haven and Aunt Dee's house. They have about 6 acres of land with a pond in the front, a pool in the back, ducks and chickens. When I was growing up they lived on a farm with cows and everything but they sold that and built this house. My kiddos love going to the country and running around on their land.

Julianna looking at the chickens. She was constantly getting food for the ducks and the chickens she even came home with some in her pockets.

We love to take pictures in our family and my dad's brother, Uncle Jim is a photographer on the side. This is my dad's family from left to right: my dad, his mom (Nannie as we call her), Aunt Dee and Uncle Jim. My dad's dad died a few years ago so this is all that is left of the Forrester family.

My mom and dad. Aren't they cute!

Cousins Amanda and Randy. Amanda is single and Randy's wife was in Japan so they took a picture together.

Newlyweds Zach and Amy

My cousin Alesha, and one of my best friends, and her family.

My brother, Charlie, with his family

The Harber clan

Randy with his kids. His wife was in Japan getting ready for them to join her. It's going to be sad when they move because we don't know when we will see all of them again. :(

All of the great-grandkids

The girls except the oldest I don't know where she ran off to.

All of the men and boys

All of the women and girls. We had a picture taken outside with everyone but it didn't turn out on my camera. :(

Noah, Eli and cousin Claira playing by the pond

The Pillow Pet party they all couldn't wait to have. They had so much fun

Nannie reading Julianna a book

Noah and Nannie

Eli and Nannie

Silly girl!! This is her the majority of the time

lol she is saying "cheese"

Playing Mousetrap

Christmas morning at the Harber house

Christmas Eve at Grandpa Bowen's house(my mom's side of the family)

Christmas parties at the boys' school

Christmas City
There is this campground not too far from our house that puts on this huge Christmas light display walking you through the story of Jesus. It is so amazing and the kiddos loved it. You can either drive through it or take a train ride. Of course my kiddos chose the train and it was freezing that night. But we had funnel cakes and hot chocolate afterwards so that made it all better. Charlie and his family went with us and we had a blast.

2 birthday parties and Halloween

2009-11-03T17:17:00.001-08:00

Where do I begin? First of all I'm sorry for this post being forever long I think it is the longest post ever in the history of blogging. :) Well probably not but it is still long. This past month was busy to say the least. First we had Julianna's 2 year old birthday party, then Halloween and then Noah's birthday party with family. His birthday party with his friends is this Saturday. Whew then it will be our anniversary and Christmas. This time of year is so busy for our family but I love it and would not have it any other way. First are pictures from Julianna's party, then Halloween and then Noah's party. I hope you enjoy all of the pictures! :)

JULIANNA'S 2 YR B-DAY PARTY

Elmo cookies that were so yummy. Thanks Laurie!

Video of Julianna beating up Elmo. Too cute.

Julianna kissing her little boyfriend goodbye

She is such the little mama with her new baby doll

Eli and cousin Claira playing with the wooden dress up dolls

Noah hiding in the box

Opening presents

Throwing a fit. Make sure you watch the video at the end to see her fit on Halloween.

Elmo and Cookie Monster. They were a hit.

NOAH'S 7 YR B-DAY PARTY

Remote controlled helicopter that he loved and it broke after about 15 minutes. I called the company and they are replacing it. He can't wait for his new one.

Papaw trying to fix the helicopter

And here is the Pillow Pet that I was talking about in the last post.

I think he likes it.

Pumpkin pie instead of cake. How many 7 year olds ask for pumpkin pie for their b-day?

And to top off the great birthday weekend he lost a tooth. This is his 3rd tooth lose but the first up top.

TRUNK OR TREAT AT OUR CHURCH

Eli changing a tire on the RA Racer

Noah changing the RA Racer tire

Daddy holding all of the candy

Magic show that the kiddos really enjoyed

Family pic at Trunk or Treat

Noah, Noah, Noah!!!

2009-10-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

Noah is my precious, strong-willed and lovable first born son. He found one of our old digital cameras and takes pictures of himself, his brother and sister all the time. He is enjoying it and I think it is fun to look at the pictures, some of them are quite good actually. He says some of the funniest things sometimes and we have always said that we can see his wheels turning in his head. This week they are on Fall Break and I have had something planned for them everyday. Monday we went to the zoo and yesterday we went to the Children's Museum. I was so tired yesterday morning after a day at the zoo so I was just letting them play hoping that they would not remember that we were supposed to go the the museum. But I was not so lucky when I heard Noah ask me when we were going. I told him I had decided that we stay home today and go tomorrow. He would not have any part of that and started crying. I felt so horrible I mean what was I thinking this is their Fall Break and I'm wimping out. I told him to get his brother and tell him that they needed to get dressed so we could go. On the way home from the museum Noah was thanking me for taking him and telling me he had a fun time. He then said "I was crying at home and I was thinking that my crying would not work but it did and you changed your mind". WHAT?!!! Had I just been played by my 6 year old? I think so! Then last night John was putting the boys to bed and Noah informed him that he wanted a pillow pet. John looked at him and asked what a pillow pet was. Noah said "It's a pillow. It's a pet. It's a pillow pet. A million kids already have one and love them and I want one for my birthday. I can even take it to Mamaw's house." He pretty much repeated the entire commercial. The boy cracks us up! That's our Noah.

First day of school and Grandparent's Day

2009-09-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

We have been busy around here. I can not believe I have been away from my blog for so long. I'm so sorry about that and I promise I will not be away for so long again. I have so much to catch y'all up on and I will do that. I have been sewing like crazy around here and I will post pictures of those projects soon.

The boys are both in school now and I can not believe that it is just me and Julianna at home now. Noah is in 1st grade and Eli is in Kindergarden. They both love their class and their teachers. Atoka is growing so quickly that they had to add another kindergarden class this year. Of course Eli would be one of the kids in his class to be moved to the new class. He made the transition with no problems and is excited because his friend Chloe is in his new class. I know his teacher to so it all worked out perfectly!

It is so quiet around the house now and Julianna asks every morning where her bubbas are. It's too cute. I think she has gotten used to being at home without her brothers and is enjoying the one on one time with mommy. I'm enjoying it too. I am still teaching Kindermusik once a week and we are having fun. Here are a few pics of the boys at school with their teachers.

The first few pictures are from Grandparent's Day at school. Memaw brought them lunch from McDonald's. Papa was supposed to come to the Grandparent's Day Breakfast but he had to work for the first time during the day for months. He normally works nights but that week he had to work days. The boys enjoyed having Memaw at their school for lunch.

Memaw and Noah

Memaw and Eli

Eli and Chloe

Will you look at that face! TROUBLE!

Noah was also excited to see a few friends from last year in his class. This is his friend Douglass.

Eli and his teacher Mrs. April. We love her!!Eli and Mrs. Tracey. This was his first teacher until they switched him. We love her too and were so excited when he was put in her class. Oh well maybe Julianna will get her. :)

Noah and his teacher Mrs. Bonds. He is having such a fun time in her class.

Summer Fun

2009-08-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

The kiddos and I have had a busy busy summer. These last few weeks I have tried to pack as much stuff in as humanly possible. We have been to the Children's Museum(look here for pics of that day), the zoo, the library, the sprinkler parks, Mud Island and we even went to see the Disney train to promote the new Christmas movie "A Christmas Carol". These pictures are from one of the sprinkler parks, the Disney Train and Mud Island. We had a fun summer and I'm sad to see it go. Eli and Noah will both be in school so it will just be me and Julianna at home. That's okay though because I have Kindermusik on Tuesdays and I'm sure we will have some playdates set up soon. Enjoy the pics of our summer fun!!!