Our First Blogger Video!

Last week while at school with Fletcher I was able to video him with his teacher, Mrs. DeLisa. She has been working with him on his colors. He knows them pretty well. Most of you have only seen pictures of Fletcher and haven't seen him 'in action.' He's truly an amazing little guy. I'm so proud of him and the progress he's making. I hope you enjoy this video. Please feel free to comment to let me know what you think.

Take me out to the ball game...

This Saturday, May 31st the 8th annual Mark Harmon baseball game will be held at the Bricktown Ball park. Our family had the opportunity to go last year and we had a blast! The weather was great, the food was delish and we watched a fun baseball game. We'd like to invite all of you to join us at 3pm on Saturday, if you have the chance. It'll be fun I promise! You can purchase your tickets at the ball park and that ticket will get you into both the MH game and the 7:05 Redhawk game that evening! All the proceeds of the game benefit The Children's Center. Hope to see you there!

Mark Harmon signed the back of Maddie's shirt and she still loves and wears it!

Also the Farmer's Market at TCC is opened they're there every Thursday 3:30p -7:00p and on Saturdays 8:00a-12:00p.

Two parties, one day...

Well, we made it through the parties for Maddie's sixth birthday! The first was her 'friend party' she invited five of her friends and treated them to manicures and pedicures. It was a whole lot of fun. All the girls picked the nail color and design they wanted. Maddie chose silver polish with a rhinestone flower on each thumb and each of her big toes. Maddie and I decorated flip flops for each of the girls. My BFF Laura's daughter, Adriann made these incredible flip flop cookies! Oh so cute! The party was a success and fun was had by all!

The mani...

the pedi...

the girls

the toes and flip flops

the party favors!

The second party was the 'family party' which is always fun. I love being with my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, in-laws and my mom. Laughter abounds when we're all together. Everyone came to our house at 4pm for cake and ice cream and the opening of the fabulous gifts! Okay so one gift not so fabulous in my opinion, but the bomb dot com in Maddie's world! The megaphone from Grandma Jill. Mom, seriously? What on earth did I do to deserve that? It's almost as bad as the book of 365 days worth of Knock, Knock jokes from the other grandparents! :) The megaphone has the ability to change the sound of your voice, very loudly and officially became an outside toy this evening!

So sweet

nice...the gifts...thanks family!

Kim, why are you laughing so hard?

reason...the MEGAPHONE!

In all seriousness we'd like to thank everyone who came and celebrated our girl with us! It was a lot of fun and so great to see everyone!

Tomorrow is Memorial Day and we will bring Fletcher home for the afternoon. We're really looking forward to having him here. We'll have Craig's family over and grill some burgers and eat some great food. But, we'll also be thankful for the men and women who have and are serving our country so we can be safe. God bless you all!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

It's hard to believe you are six years old! Where has the time gone? My how you've grown to be a sweet, smart and funny girl! I can always count on you for a good laugh even when you don't mean to be funny! Before you were born someone told me, 'Enjoy every moment because she'll grow quickly.' I'm trying to treasure every moment. When you were a baby I loved getting up with you in the middle of the night. I was happy to change all those diapers, too! I loved holding you and reading you scriptures in the middle of the day when we were home by ourselves. I'll never forget the first time I left you at Mother's Day Out. You just walked right in and didn't miss me one bit. By the time you were in PreK you needed me a little more, secretly I loved every time you didn't want me to leave. When you lost your first tooth we both were a crying mess. Now, you've finished Kindergarten and you're moving on up to 1st grade. I'll miss our afternoons together. What will I do with my time? I'm so proud of you sweet girl and am looking forward to what your sixth year has in store for you! What a blessing to be your mommy!

May 23, 2002

First Christmas

May 23, 2003

2003

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

May 23, 2008

Oh Maddie...

Maddie and I are spending another day at home. Yesterday she ran a fever all day and her fever must of broken sometime in the night. She woke up fever free and remains that way to this moment but she's been throwing up all day. She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon so I can't imagine what she must be throwing up. She has laid on the couch for the entire day with her little throw up bucket. Are you wondering if I can say throw up one more time? I'm sure I can and will! :) Maddie is so somber and hasn't talked much today. I hope the throw up is over soon. :) It looks like we'll be missing school tomorrow as well. Poor thing! I'm not sure what you do when you're sick on the last of school. I guess I'll head up there in the morning and get her things. Well, please continue to pray for our girl. I really don't want her to be sick on her birthday!!

So smart...

This morning Fletcher had his IEP (Individualized Education Program) evaluation. In the state of Oklahoma when special needs children turn three they become a part of the public school system. Fletcher will be under the care of Bethany schools. He will not actually go to that school because he has everything he needs at TCC. Anyhoo, I was with Fletcher during his evaluation and I was amazed at the things he could do! I go to school with him each day but I'm only there for the first half which is introductions and songs. Well, in the second half of class they are teaching my boy some stuff! Today Fletcher was able to pick a cat out of a field of three a cat, a duck and a car. Then they asked him to choose the duck and he did it! I was so proud! He's known his body parts for a long time but he can now show you the body parts of others! He was able to match a square with another square also out of a field of three a circle, square and triangle. He's also working on his colors! It was so encouraging to see how well he doing! Way to go, Fletcher!!!

This morning Maddie woke up with a temp of 100.9 and it's slowly gotten worse the highest being 103.1. It's now down to 101.2. Would you all please pray for her? I don't want her to miss her last week of kindergarten. And her birthday is Friday. I really don't want her to be sick on her birthday!!! She and I have been working so hard on her party for the last two weeks. Saturday she is going to have a mani/pedi party at our favorite nail salon. She has invited 5 of her friends and she's very excited! For the party favors we purchased silver flip flops and hot glued pink and silver hearts on them. She picked out two small bottles of nail polish for each of her guest. So, now I'm just trying to put it all together. Presentation is everything, you know! That's all for now I'll post after the party.

The invitation...

...the party favors!

The BIG night...

Maddie's ballet recital went well on Saturday night. She looked so pretty and she danced beautifully. Maddie really loved wearing her beautiful costume and being able to wear make-up. Her class danced to 'Come, Now Is the Time to Worship'. How sweet to see these little girls worshipping through dance. We weren't allowed to video or take pictures during the recital. The middle pictures shows Maddie practicing in the dressing room before her performance. I hope she continues to enjoy ballet. I'm excited to see how far she'll go and if it will become her passion.

Roses after a great performance

Isn't she precious?

Mommy's little ballerina

She said yes...

Today Maddie and I went to staff meeting at the church, like we do every Friday afternoon. We had our meeting like usual and she played and interrupted and played and interrupted. That's what we do our staff meetings take forever! We finished up our meeting and I was trying to get Maddie serious about getting out of there because we had a million things to do. Well, just as I was ready to walk out the door she said, "Mommy, I want to pray." This is a common phrase and usually involves praying for Fletcher. So, I stopped and said, "Okay, what would you like to pray about?" She then said this, "I want to ask Jesus into my heart." "WOW! Okay...wow!" Thankful our pastor and one of Maddie's heroes was present and he said, "Maddie do you know what sin is?" She quickly said, "Yes." Then I said, "What is sin?" She said, "It's when you make bad choices and do bad things." WOW! I told her she was right and we prayed together. You guys the Lord is so good to me. Six years ago in our living room Kayleigh said something quite similar, she wanted to ask Jesus to come into her heart. Craig and I were able to pray with Kayleigh and lead her in the sinner's prayer. All day as I've thought about my girls and the security they have in their Savior it just made my heart happy. Happy to know they want a relationship with the One who created them. That makes me feel secure knowing that that's one thing I won't have to worry about, they have an assurance in their salvation, their names are written in The Book. I'm praising the Lord tonight for my sweet Maddie and her decision to follow Jesus. I'm praying that she will have an appetite for God's Word so she can hide it in her heart.

Mother's Day...

Thanks for praying that we would have a sweet, safe and uneventful time with Fletcher. We had a great time. We did not take Fletcher to church because on Friday he had thick nasal secretions and I think he has an ear infection brewing. I didn't want to expose him to anymore germs than need be. We picked up Fletcher after church and headed home. My mom and Craig's sister's family and his parents joined us for lunch. On Saturday I made chicken and beef enchiladas, corn and black bean salsa and sopapilla cheese cake. Preparing it a day ahead of time allowed me to be able to throw it in the oven and enjoy my family. The kids got me a precious coffee cup planter. I can't wait to get some flowers and put it on the patio. Kayleigh is now at the age where she is writing her own thoughts on cards. She wrote, I love you with my whole heart. That choked me up, it was so sweet. Maddie made me a frame that said I love you to pieces and it had puzzle pieces glued all around it. Craig was able to get Fletcher to sign a card for me and that's when the tears began to flow. I am so grateful for my family. I truly have incredible children. And a wonderful husband. We tried to get a picture of me with Kayleigh, Maddie and Fletcher but that boy just would not cooperate! We did get one shot of him smiling with his sisters and cousins so that was good. All in all it was a nice Mother's Day.

Oh well, maybe next time...

The Burns grandchildren

Today, however, has been a tough day emotionally for me. It usually is the day after having Fletcher at home. Having him here is bittersweet. The sweet part is having him with us and the sense of normalcy that we feel. The bitter part comes when we have to take him back. He's always so happy to be back at TCC and that hurts my heart because TCC is not his home. I also face the reality that what we are doing is not normal, nothing about it seems right. Craig and I were exhausted yesterday, not because physically it's hard to have Fletcher home, emotionally it wears us out. When we sit and think about it, we realize we are traveling in a mini van with a critically ill, ventilator dependent baby. His life is literally in our hands. We, of course have been trained to take care of him and we do a great job of it. But when I think about it, it's overwhelming. It's our normal and I wish it wasn't. I always have a hard time taking Fletcher's crib down and taking the car seat out of the car. I'm not sure exactly what that does for me. I guess the biggest part of it is denial and trying to hold on to the normal. Even though having a crib in your living room isn't normal it was for us when he lived at home. Like the crib and the car seat I feel empty inside. I hate that he doesn't live at home. That he can't walk or talk. One day last week I took Maddie to see Fletcher and on the way home she said, 'I wish I had a brother that wasn't on oxygen.' My heart broke when she said that. I didn't know how to respond. I tried to bring out the positive things about Fletcher. I know life will go on and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. But, if you think about would you pray for me?

Guess who's coming home for Mother's Day?

You guessed it! The boy! We were going to take him to church but he's got a little infection going on and we don't want him around a lot of people. So, we'll pick him up after church. My mom and Craig's family will join us for lunch on Mother's Day. Would you all pray that we would have a sweet, uneventful day? We'd truly appreciate it! Well, that's all for now I'll blog about our day. Happy Mother's Day, ya'll!

Lots going on...

The last few weeks have been filled with a lot of activity and we have enjoyed every minute of it! My Uncle Randy, Aunt Sandy, my cousin Aaron and Jonathan, my aunt and uncle's grandson came to OKC to visit. They always make a special trip to see Fletcher and this trip was no different. Fletcher loved playing ball with Uncle Randy and Aaron. I think they might have enjoyed it as well. Aunt Sandy and Johnathan had to wait in the lobby since Johnathan is only two years old. Maybe next time they can ALL visit. It's always good to see family!

Fletcher, Aaron, & Uncle Randy

Fletcher playing with Aaron's hat

I'm sure you've all been wondering about baby Lucille. Well, Lucille had a horrible accident the first day Kayleigh took her to school. One of Kayleigh's friends was pretending to throw Lucille and he crushed her!!! Thankfully Kayleigh's teacher let her make another baby. Softball is in full swing right now. Kayleigh is playing several positions but prefers left field. Hmmm...I wonder if that has anything to do with that blonde hair! So far she has played 3rd base, short stop and catcher. She just feels more comfortable in the out field. Last night Kayleigh's BFF Vanessa spent the night and they made t-shirts for their small group at church. We always have so much fun with Kayleigh and Vanessa. They are so much alike and Vanessa is a true friend to Kayleigh. After dinner we made s'mores out on the patio in our chimenea. It was great fun.

Poor Lucille

My softball player...ain't she cute!

On our way to church

Maddie had her last Girl Scout meeting for the year Thursday night. She was really sad that she has to wait until school starts in fall to go back. Me, I'm thankful for the break! At the last meeting they made 'edible fire'. It was made from all kinds of snack foods and as they built the fire the leader explained how to make a camp fire. For example they unrolled a fruit roll-up and that was the clearing, they used mini marshmallow for the rocks, etc. Pretty neat. One of Maddie's little Daisy friends said, "I can't believe we're going to make edible fire!" and I asked her if she knew what edible meant and she said, "No" so I told her she could eat it and they all squealed with delight! It was hilarious! Saturday morning Maddie and I were the first ones awake so we decided to make breakfast. Maddie was a very good helper she cracked the eggs and put the biscuits on the cookie sheet. All of us haven't had breakfast together in a very long time. We really enjoyed our morning.

Edible fire

Making breakfast

Thursday TCC opened all the units! Maddie is now able to go and see her brother! Yay! Maddie wanted to see Fletcher the second she got out of school. He was as happy to see her as she was to see him. Maddie couldn't wait to get into his bed and she really wanted to read to him. It was so sweet. Friday I went to school with Fletcher for the first time in months. His schedule was changed around so much I don't even know what time he went to class, but since RSV is officially over things are getting back to normal. Anyhoo, I went to class with him and he picked the first song, 'Twinkle, twinkle little star". The only hand motion he does is the 'wonder what you are' and he taps his index finger on the side of his head. It is so very cute! Well, get a load of this...Friday for the very first time ever he moved his fingers at the time of the twinkle, twinkle part! Oh my goodness, I started crying when I realized what he was doing! I went straight out into the hall and called Craig. It is amazing how that little finger movement is such a blessing to us. It's not that he can't move his fingers, because he can. It's that he did it deliberately, at the right time and more than once! I have thought about all weekend and sung that song to him twenty times and he does it every time (if he wants too)! Tonight we all went up and saw Fletcher, he loved seeing his sisters.

My sweet kiddos