Moments ...

We've had some very fun (& a few not so fun) days lately...

We were honored to represent Children's Miracle Network at a party celebrating the Brookshire's Golf Tournament.

a HUGE thank you to Brookshire's for your generous donation!  And a HUGE thank you to all of the golfers that are making miracles realities for kids all over Texas!

Will got to hold the check!

 on the golf course during the tournament

(Ellie was not cooperating with the photographer.  She did not want to close to her big brother.)

 CMN invited my dad (Cookie) to play in the tournament & several of his friends joined him for a fun day of golf.  Thanks to Jim, Tom, & John for playing for our kiddos (& others!)

 That night, Will was thrilled to see that the party theme was "Texas!"

He & Robin (our CMN director) quickly disassembled the centerpieces and put together a costume for Will.

 Will enjoyed dancing to the band.

(He so makes me want to be 4.  Oh to be so uninhibited.)

There's only 2 days left of preschool.

I may or may not have actually started crying while dropping him off this morning at the realization that one week from today, he will officially be a kindergartener.

(I'm sure the fact that we woke up early in Dallas & drove to preschool this morning from Dallas had nothing to do with the tears.)

(I also know that I frequently cry at drop off so perhaps the early morning drive and exhaustion had nothing to do with it.  Two half days a week and I miss him every time.)

One day last week was Pirate Day at preschool.

 Needless to say, Captain Will was thrilled with this theme.

We painted his face & he was quite a hit among his classmates.

 Saturday morning monthly skype with a friend far away who has the same syndrome as Will.  This time is always so good for Will.  Little sister likes to be a part of it too & frequently waves at the computer and yells hi.

 Our friend & pediatrician, Dr. Rick, invited R for an early morning bike ride Saturday morning.  They rode 55 miles and circled the lake twice.  R had fun but needed a little help with his stretches from his trainers:

 Ellie had some very early appointments in Dallas at the hospital Monday morning.  When we learned that R had work in Dallas for several days and a hotel room, we decided to all leave Sunday afternoon.

We ate dinner with some of our best friends - a perfect way to spend a Sunday evening.

 and my children played and had the best time rolling in the hotel room after their bath

story time in the room

 Ellie bright and early in the hospital.  (This was my only picture.  X-Rays were rough... so hard to hold your baby still for that!

Will did great- stayed so still on his stool behind the xray room.  Then he did great in the exam room with us.  

At one point, one of the top orthopedists in the country (& the lowers doc for both of my kids) offered to take Will out to check out the fish while Ellie & I visited with some of the other members of her team.  Will was being good but chatty.

I am so thankful for such a great doctor!

 Sweet Ellie did great (mostly.)  

Probably we are looking at two surgeries.  Possibly as early as 6 months from now for the first. 

UGH.

But I would prefer a winter surgery over a summer one simply because summer in Texas in a cast would be miserable.

This wasn't great news but wasn't terribly surprising either.  I guess my heart was mostly prepared to hear she will likely need more surgeries.

She so far has had 1 major surgery & 1 very minor one.

 After the hospital appointments, I decided we needed some fun.

I am a firm believer that difficult doctor days should be counterbalanced with a fun activity.

So we headed to the world aquarium.

We were just in time for the shark feeding!  So cool (& gross.)

We also got to get up close and personal with a crab

 Will fed parrots.

 Afterwards, we planned on meeting friends for a late lunch but that didn't work out.  The kids and I had a quick picnic at one of our favorite parks in Dallas.

Eating outside on the grass with my favorite people makes me happy.

 After lovely dark hotel room naps, we headed north to see family friends

 and meet sweet baby Kate visiting from Nashville!

Ellie loves babies and was cute sitting by sweet Kate and playing with her feet.

(Oh my arms love having such a little one in them again.  She was so soft and cuddly and sweet.  So glad to have been able to meet her at last!!)

When R finished his meeting, we all headed to one of my very favorite restaurants. 

Eating out with little kids can go either way.

I was so thankful that despite the late hour, our kids did great.  They happily split a yummy meal of chicken and peas and fingerling potatoes.

While waiting for our food to arrive, they kept themselves busy with sugar packets.

Ellie was content to put them in and out of their holder. 

 Will was a little more advanced.  He made patterns with the different types of sugar.  This kept him very busy for a long time.

 Sweet Ellie and her "da"

 Some months have more doctors and therapies than others.  Occasionally, we have an entire month with no doctors.

This is not one of those months.  

We've seen two specialists and have another one later this week.

But I have found that, oddly enough, it doesn't consume us.  We don't spend our days focusing on doctors and what they may or may not say.  It's certainly a significant part of our days and our lives...

but life is so much richer when filled with meals with friends and bouncing on hotel beds and playing on golf courses and watching sharks and being a family.

These ordinary days are my favorite.