Please pray for our puppy...

We found out today our puppy Marley has parvo. The vet said 70% to 80% don't make it. He said if we were super diligent she had about a 50% chance. I am going to trust God we are in the right 50%. We have to get up every hour all night and try to get her to drink Pedialyte and eat some special food. We will take her back in the morning for another IV. He said she is going to throw up and poo all over our house, but any she keeps down will help. She has kept the 1st dose down and it is now time to give the 2nd round, please pray it goes as smoothly. If she is still here in 3-5 days she should be ok. Please pray for Marley, our sanity, and our kids' hearts.

Update:
Sadly, even getting up every hour with her last night she was just too little and we lost her at 7 am in my arms on the way to the vet. She did wonderfully through 4 am even getting up to drink on her own accord. However, at 5 she was really struggling and I called the vet at 6:30 to meet me up there before they open. She was just too sick. This is very hard.

Kelly

Family reunion

This picture was taken at our family reunion this weekend. It was a Christmas present from my grandmother, and everyone got such a kick out of it. She was telling everyone to make sure they read the baby's bib before they left. haha

Need ideas...

We need ideas, even if you never post I'd love to hear your ideas. Brandt will be 6 in August and the last thing we need around here is more toys. With 4 boys so close in age we have toys coming out of our ears. There is nothing that they need and no place to put more. When Brandt was a baby we use to take the money we would have spent on his presents and we bought presents and food for needy families. We did it for several years. and it was wonderful. However, the older he got the more we thought he might be upset not getting anything and we have moved away from that. Some of our good friends did something similar at their kids' birthday this past year and donated pjs for needy kids instead of bringing the birthday kid a toy. I love the idea and would like to get back to doing something like that again. We talked to Brandt last night and he is excited about it, but has no idea what he wants to do. So I would love to hear any and all possible ideas he could have his guests do instead of bringing him another present.

Special time with great grandma

Dustin's grandmother lives in Minneapolis. She will be 91 in October and is in remarkeably good health. It was her husband of 60+ years that past away last October. We have not seen her since the funeral, and the boys hadn't seen her since about 2 weeks before that when we went to visit them. She flew by herself from Minneapolis to Austin to visit my mother-in-law. So last weekend we took the boys to Austin to visit with her, and it was such a special time. They are old enough that they remember her from our last visit and were so anxious to see her. We met them around lunch time to eat, and Brayden walked up to her and gave her a hug and told her she was so special to him and he wanted to sit by her. Completely unprompted, and you could just see her huge smile. All of the boys were so good to her, and would just walk over and hug her or kiss her just because they felt like it. It is hard with her being so far away, it is an 18 hour 1 way road trip, which we have made 4 different times, and then Dustin and I have flown 1 other time. The boys hated to see her leave, and hopefully it won't be too much longer before we get to see her again.

A funny story: She leaned over and told Brayden "we sure are buddies, huh." Brayden looked and her in all seriousness and said "we are not buddies, I am your great great great great grandson." I had to explain you can be both, and she isn't THAT old. lol



We love our Grandma J!!!

2 months old!

My sweet baby is 2 months old today. He is such a good baby, and we are very lucky. He has slept from around 11 pm to 6 am since he was 2 weeks old. The last few nights he has done from around 10 pm to around 7 am. It is amazing how much easier the newborn stage is when you are actually getting some sleep. haha He has started smiling and has even laughed a few times when he gets tickled. All 3 boys are head over heels in love with him, and we are very blessed!

Prayers for Dylan, please

Dylan's mom Heide and I are on a bargain board together. Last Jan she received the news that every parent dreads, her oldest son had cancer. I remember the absolute panic she had when she informed us. Sadly, they have tried everything and Dylan will very shortly be going home to his Heavenly Father. My heart breaks for this family, for his 3 little brothers, for his parents, but mostly for Dylan. Please keep him in your prayers, that he will not be in any pain, and that the Lord carries his family through this. This makes my struggles with the boys so minor, and I try to remind myself how fortunate I am to have 4 little boys to drive me crazy. I am truly blessed!

Respect for pioneer women...

We are visiting my parents and today their A/C went out. It was over 100 degrees here today and it was miserably hot. We had a really hard time finding someone who would come out today to look at it (keep in mind my parents live in the middle of nowhere...over an hour from a large city). Finally at 2:30 she found someone who would be out by 3:30 and they were able to fix it quickly. When they got here it was 92 INSIDE the house. Wow! I went to Dollar General and bought a blow-up pool and the older kids had a great time and ate lots of popsicles. However, the baby was miserable. He was way too hot & even got a little heat rash on his back. I felt so bad for him and we went and sat in the A/C in the van for a while. We were within a few minutes of cutting the trip short and going home to the cool. The whole time I was so grateful that I live in an age and place where I have the luxury of A/C. Can you imagine the early pioneer women who wore petticoats and long sleeve dresses with no A/C? How did they do it? They cooked over open flames, that had to be so HOT. Why would anyone have come to the south with no A/C? I would totally have been a northern girl, I could add layers or start a fire. I learned I do not have a ton of patience when I get way overheated. lol I am very pleased to say there is now a nice breeze in here now.

10 reasons I am thankful for the summer

1. Snuggle time with my 2 year old while he falls a sleep for naptime
2. Snowcones and popsicles
3. Splashpad fun
4. $1 movies, and that all 3 kids actually sat and watched it last time
5. Boat rides, desperately need to take it out
6. Flying kites, and watching the awe on my kids faces when they get it really high
7. Our anniversary, and just a reminder of how blessed I am
8. Not having to get up to an alarm...can I get an AMEN!
9. I am a stay at home mom for 3 months, and then get to go back to work...perfect balance for me!
10. That even though I am off, I still get paid!

Family time and making memories...priceless!

7 years!

Yesterday Dustin and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We were such babies when we got married, I had been 21 for a whole 3 weeks, and Dustin was 21 for another 2 months. I never would have dreamed our lives would have gone this path, but I am so thankful to God that He knows better than we do. He has provided us good jobs, a nice house, and amazing children, all 4! Dustin is truly my best friend, and for that I am extremely grateful. He knows me so well that I do not need to say anything at all, he can complete my sentences and thoughts.

We are unable to head to Florida for 2 weeks today like we did 7 years ago. However, we were able to go out to eat and to the movies last night and it was so nice to be abke to reconnect with each other.

I love you more today than ever. I am so anxious to see what God has in store for us in the years to come. I love you!

Our Galveston Trip

Last week we drove to Galveston to pick up my sister to stay with us for a few days. We ended up staying in Galveston and making a short vacation out of it. We took the boys to the beach, Rainforest cafe, and on the ferry. Then the next day we took them to Kemah, they rode a few rides, fed sting rays, and ate at the Aquarium restaurant. It was incredibly hot, but still a lot of fun! We had a blast, and can't wait to do it again.

Priceless picture

Brayden praying during Brennan's baby dedication a few Sundays ago.