Cooper the King

It takes Cooper a while to get moving in the morning. He really likes to take his time coming to life. This morning I laid him in my bed to have his milk with cartoons.

I thought he looked like a little king all propped up on my pillows.Managed a smile even with his suckie

Yes We Can!

Mike and I watched Obama's speech--he defined the change and it all sounds pretty simple, like common sense. I had goosebumps and I do believe he stands for the changes that need to happen in our country. Something has got to change. It is pretty scary raising 3 boys in the world we've had the past several years.

Ty's First Day of Preschool

Today was Ty's first day of preschool. He was so excited this morning! He kept wanting to wear his backpack and carry his lunch box around. He was even wearing his backpack with his pajamas and waiting at the door about 7:30 (school was at 9:00)


Showing off his new Dora lunch box. Yes I know it's lavender, but you try finding something with Dora that isn't pink
I at least made him get the Cars backpack instead of the pink, I mean really pink Dora backpack.At Little Red Schoolhouse. I wanted to get a picture of the school but I realized you couldn't really tell much by these pictures.
I'm not sure what Ty was doing here, but it sure is funny.
Ty had a little trouble when I had to leave. School was a great idea until he had to do it by himself. I called and checked once and he was upset and crying still. But when I picked him up after lunch Jessica said he had done pretty well. Not too bad for a first day.(I haven't yet broken the news to him that he has to go back on Thursday)
Brooks was excited to get back to school. He had missed 2 weeks from his surgery and was happy to see his friends. Brooks also gets to be upstairs this year with the pre-K class. He is glad to have some more structure and be a "big kid"

Lake Irwin

This morning after breakfast we took the boys for a drive and to check out Lake Irwin. We had never taken the time to go clear up to the lake and it was beautiful.(and only about 20 minutes from home)
We hadn't really planned on going up so we were not really prepared (shoes, towels, dry clothes, etc.)but we did get some fun pictures.


I love this pic of Mike holding Cooper back. He was determined he could go as far and deep as he wanted.What is it about little boys and rocks?

You knew someone was going in..............and I would have bet it would be Ty, and I would have been right.
What, what happened?!?!?!?!?!?!

More attempts at a family picture. Don't you like Ty with no shirt.

A Little Sand Anyone?

My mom has a sand box in Denver that the boys love. She recently filled it with purple play sand.Both Cooper and Ty were having trouble not throwing sand at each other.I think most of Ty's ended up in his hair
My mom and I were both watching them, but neither of us had the energy to stop them.
Cooper was without his shirt because he had been hosed off once already.
Cooper looks guilty here. You can tell I had come to scold him.
Oh well at least they were having fun, and everything washes!

Brooks continues to feel better everyday! I have seen a huge improvement in just the last little bit. His appetite is even starting to come around. These pics are not just of him playing peek a boo, but I wanted to post the huge bruises he has had on his hands from where they tried to get an IV in his chubby little hands.
As a baby he had the fattest little hands and I guess they were a factor in getting an IV started.
They eventually put it in his foot. :) Thankfully they did this after he was under general, I was worried they would do it before he went back to the OR.
You can tell by this pic he is not 100%, but he has made huge improvements in the last few days!

I think today Brooks is finally starting to feel better. We made it home yesterday and it was long for him to sit in the car. He went straight to the couch. He had a better night sleep last night and has only had Tylenol today. I think he is on the uphill swing.
I called the nurse on Tuesday because he felt so bad and she said to expect him to feel worse as scab comes of the incisions on day 7-10. YUCK! So far no sign of that happeningNow he is just tired of feeling bad. He is really wanting to be back to normal and he just isn't yet. It is hard to keep him from overdoing it. Maybe just another day or two of couch and bed and he will be up to a little more activity.

Some Hospital Pictures

Here is Brooks in the lobby at Children's. Children's Hospital has a nice new campus and all of the amenities are great. Here is Brooks playing while I did all the admissions.Pre-op took quite awhile, Brooks was quite nervous as it all began to sink in--but he had Pooh by his side.
In order for Mike and I to take Brooks to the operating room we had to wear the white suits. Brooks got a kick out of that! We let him take our pictures to lighten his mood.
Mike and I were so nervous. It was so hard for me not to let Brooks see how upset I was.

In the recovery room. I guess he had required some additional pain meds and it really took him a while to come out from all the anesthesia
He was really out!
Pooh still by his side--poor baby this doesn't even look like BrooksFeeling a little better, and multitasking. He was happy to have his DS to pass the time.

In his room for the night. He looked so little in that giant hospital bed. He was sad to have to spend the night, but he was happy to play with the controls on the bed. He had that bed in every position it had.
He took full advantage of the popsicle rule. By the time we checked out he had easily had a dozen popsicles. The nurses told me it was okay because they would keep his hydration up.
It was a long day and a short night, but we had great care and know Brooks will feel better in the long run.