Life

Still Here.. Still Crazy... Still living life to the fullest.. Never a dull moment but just how we like it! Clint still working his long long long hours.. Mommy still working her long long long hours. And the kids just being kids!

Things that make this crazy life so fun and worth every Crazy Minute!

The way Cayne shakes his head Yes with his mouth open
The way the babies bite one another and then immediately give each other love
The fact that I can still call them babies for a few more months (tear tear)
The way Maxton calls Deer jerky Beef Turkey
Smelling Maxton's stinky spit yep I just admitted that.. Love it. Gross I know
Cavin saying Not So Very Much
Mason kissing my forehead each night and each morning
Carter saying Mommy I love you
Mallory being such a huge help I couldn't get through my days with out her
Teacher Conferences that went so well I walked out feeling like we are doing good at this whole parent thing! Smart kids!
The way Clint laughed the other night when I said Hey I might not be good at math but man can I teach you how to do some laundry! Tickled his funny bone but yet it was so true!
Rocking my babies whenever they want I stop sit down an rock
Listening to everyone laugh while playing a silly game
Hearing the babies say "Hi Dad" when the door opens at night
Knowing the song to every Disney Channel cartoon (someday I won't even know if Disney Channel is still around)
Watching Mallory read a book to Maccoy and Him enjoying it
changing diapers (weird but I will miss it)


It made me sad yesterday we were doing a little spring cleaning and Mallory went through her closet and trashed a bunch of doll babies, polly pockets, little pet shop pets.. All these things are signs she is growing up and it scares me, makes me sad, makes me excited, makes me happy and proud all at the same time.


These are just some of the things that I am thankful for and some of the reasons why this life is so wonderful!

Tear Tear

Babies,
Your 2nd birthday is fast approaching and before long we will no longer be able to refer to you as the babies.. Your so funny and sweet! I love to hear Cayne say Hi Mom. And Maccoy you can throw a ball like no baby I have ever seen. In the evening when you hear the door open Your faces light up and you run, run to see Daddy and how his face lights up when he see's you! I love seeing you shake your heads yes to my questions "you wanna a sippie?" "you wanna get some lunch" "you wanna go outside" those are all popular Yes questions! Its so stinkin cute! You bark like a dog, moo like a cow, get things when asked like balls, and your blankies. You love fruit, heck pretty much food in general your great eaters! You are wearing size 18 to 24 months clothes, size 4 diapers. I would say Cayne is a bit taller and a bit heavier than Maccoy. I am still carrying you both pretty much everywhere at the same time but some days my back says I shouldn't. You hit and bite each other at least 10 times a day but as soon as your told to say sorry you lay your head on your brother and give a hug ( absolutely heart warming to see).
A list of words you can say would look like this:
Bubba
MaMa
Dada
puppy
ball
jay
sis
ear
eye
nose
no no
baby

You know the signs for more, milk,thank you and bye bye
You LOVE candy!! Especially gummies
You carry your blankies around all day. You love to take bath's, and we have NO problem putting you down for bed or nap. You both just lay down, grab your blankies, pop your left thumb in your mouth ( daddy is sure your both going to be left handed) and that's the last we hear from you til morning or naptime is over unless your not feeling well. Your both cutting some molars. And you both had a yucky virus last week that gave you fevers and scared mommy cause you were so hot and Maccoy your breathing was so fast but all was gone in less than 24 hours weird huh?
Your both an absolute Delight! We love you to the Moon and Back!!

Mommy

Freak Show

I love being a FREAK show!! When we started having kids at the old age of 20 we thought 4 kids was a lot and the perfect number for us! After my labor with Mallory which was 22 hours and 3 hours of pushing, painful,vomiting my guts out,scary, you would think 1 would have been enough but the minute they put that sweet little bundle in my arms and I saw the look of pure joy/happiness/pride on Clint's face I would have done it all over again 9 months later but I decided to wait for 12months! Haha! Mason was born 12months 2weeks after Mallory! While he was a surprise pregnancy he was the easiest labor and delivery of all the kids and life with 2 babies was FUN! Clint would have been fine to stop for awhile he had his boy and his girl and was good but nope I wasn't done I had baby fever! Along came Carter after a lot of trying,crying and some fertility drugs! His labor and delivery was a hard and scary, but I didn't learn my lesson because not even 2 years later along came Cavin! Then Clint was done! Nope NO more babies! After a lot of talking and crying he finally gave in to try for that sister for Mallory with the understanding this was it! Well we didn't get that sister on #5 which turned out to be my sweet,silly,naughty Maxton what would I do without that little boy! So how I ever talked Clint into 1 more after Maxton goes something like this " We have 1 more seat in the van and 6 is a even number" WHOOPS!! Guess that came back to bite me in the butt!! Finding out about the twins held so many emotions from joy,to fear, to Holy CRAP!! But all in all they have been the most amazing additions to this family broken heart and all! Would I love to have more kids? YES a million times YES will I doubtful? Clint says he is done too but sometimes I know he thinks 1 more wouldn't be so bad! I know having a large family isn't for everyone and I never thought I would have ended up with 7 kids but ask me today and I LOVE BEING A FREAK SHOW! Some people love their jobs (like my husband) some people are good at their jobs (like my husband) I love being a Mom and most days I am pretty good at it, its a challenge especially when you have so many kids. I know a lot of people probably think my kids do without or don't get what they want, but I think if you asked them you would be surprised? I have given my kids things that they will always have not stuff but love. Love from parents who care and are always here for them and LOVE of siblings who will always and are always around for them. Kids don't need ipods, or ds's or the latest game, name brand clothes, fancy toys, expensive pee wee sports they need us to listen guide and teach them. I try my hardest to do the best for them to listen to teachers, to get idea's from other parents, to make them grow up to be the best person they can! That other stuff is just stuff. Later in life will they remember the thousands of dollars we dished out for the softball traveling team or the Ipod they got probably not but will they remember playing funny games with their siblings, mommy playing in the rain with them and making mud pies, having snowball fights with daddy, and all of us snuggled up in bed watching a movie? I hope so! Those are the things that matter to me. I love being a freak show because its the life I never new I wanted til I got it, is it hard and hardly ever quiet yep but would we change any of it? NOPE! I love all 7 of you always and forever!! And Clint I love you too and sure do miss seeing you! Can't wait for budget season to be over so we can have you back!!

Spread CHD Awareness!!

Today is Valentines Day but it is also a more special day than that at least for our family..

It's Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day! Today I am beyond Thankful for my Son! The tears sting my eyes as I think of all he has been through in his short life. He is the reason I am helping Spread Awareness for CHD! Please help me by telling pregnant women, people who are thinking of starting or adding to their family about CHD, because I never thought it would happen to me but it has. CHD doesn't have a preference for whom it strikes, I did nothing wrong during my pregnancy to cause this, it just happened and unfortunately it could happen to you or someone you love.
CHD affects 1 in 100 babies. 50% of those babies will Need at least 1 life saving operation. CHD is under funded. We need more money for more Research.. We need to spread awareness!

Sitting here thinking out Pulse Ox screening on newborns to check for CHD's and while I think its a great idea and totally easy and doesn't hurt.. Why wouldn't you ask for it??? on the other hand Maccoy's pulse ox in the NICU was never concerning most of the time he would run 96 %to 98% and even when he was in need of his first OHS his O2 Sats were still in the high 90's.. One thing our Cardiologist never understood? In fact that is one of the things they say will trigger them to set a surgery date was o2 sats that decrease but Maccoy's never did. What got us our diagnose was his a VERY VERY VERY loud murmur at birth which is why they called in a Cardiologist and he did the echo. Anyway just thinking out loud and in NO way is this saying Pulse Ox isn't needed for newborns cause it is! So if your pregnant ask for you newborn to have a Pulse Ox screening!!

Pause the Music at the bottom of the blog before playing this AWESOME video!!

Today I took the Twins into Mallory's school to talk to the 4th graders about CHD! What a great thing to do during CHD awareness week! We talked about Maccoy and how we found out about his broken heart, about how he underwent a huge open heart surgery to Mend his heart and about how he is a normal kid just with a mended heart. I also pointed out that if they should notice another child with a scar like Maccoy's its okay to ask why they have it but not to make fun of them or stare. This is something we have noticed but Clint and I are always with Maccoy to answer the questions, but it is definitely a worry of mine for later in life. They had some great questions some even adults never ask heck some I have never thought to ask!! All in all I think seeing a baby with a mended heart helped to make them see what Jump Rope for Heart is about even if the amount that goes to CHD research stinks. Anyway Maccoy was happy to share his "zipper" scar with them all! He was a Rock Star!! Mallory has a few more days to take donations! She is up to $350.00!! I am soooooo PROUD of her! And also of Grace who has raised around $150 in honor of Maccoy! And Katelyn who raised $93 in honor of Maccoy!! Thanks Girls!!

CHD Statistics from Mended Little Hearts... These are MInd Blowing! Help Spread Awareness

Congenital heart defects are America's #1 birth defect. Nearly one of every 100 babies is born with a CHD.

© Congenital heart defects are the #1 cause of birth defect related deaths.

© This year almost 40,000 babies will be born with a congenital heart defect. 4,000 of them will not live to see their

first birthday.

© 91,000 life years are lost each year in this country due to congenital heart defects.

© The cost for inpatient surgery to repair congenital heart defects exceeds $2.2 billion a year.

© Congenital heart defects occur frequently and is often life threatening, yet research into them is grossly under funded.

© Only one penny of every dollar donated to the American Heart Association goes towards congenital heart defect research.

© Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward congenital

heart defect research.

© The Children's Heart Foundation is the only organization strictly created to fund congenital heart defect research.

© In the last decade death rates for congenital heart defects have declined by almost 30% due to advances made

through research.

© The Children's Heart Foundation has directed almost $2 million to 24 different congenital heart defect research projects.

© More than 50% of all children born with a congenital heart defect will require at least one invasive surgery in

their lifetime.

© There are 35 different types of congenital heart defects. Little is known about the cause of most them. There is not yet

a cure for any of them.

© In the U.S., twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood

cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.

These babies are into everything! Don't take your eyes off them for a second! Baby Powder good times!

So Proud of Our Son!! Student of the Month!! He is such a Great Kid!!