Being thankful...

Sorry this post is a bit late been busy! Well, we were able to bring Fletcher home on Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day filled with family, food, laughter and much love! I thought I'd make a list this year of what I'm thankful for so here goes...


I'm grateful to have the opportunity to have a relationship with Jesus. I'm thankful that He loves me just as I am. I love Him more than I let anyone know and would be nothing without Him.


I'm so thankful for my family, though it looks different than most it's the most precious thing I have.


I'm thankful for our jobs. I'm grateful for a husband who goes to work each day, without complaining to provide for our family.


I'm thankful for our little grey house and the love that is found within these walls.


I'm grateful for my friends. I count on your love and prayers constantly. Thank you for loving me and my family it means the world to me.











Our day was great and everyone enjoyed being able to see Fletcher. I love when he's here it feels quasi normal. I love being able to fold his laundry in the same room where he is. I love hearing my children play together. The girls really enjoyed Fletcher this time. He loves the songs Kayleigh has on her cell phone. He gets a very serious look on his face and then bounces his big ol' tummy to the beat of the music. We all laughed and had such a great time. Craig's sister, Kristi brought Fletcher a new ball and he loved making her put it in her mouth and blow it across the room. Oh the things we'll do to make this kid smile. Life is good and I'm so grateful for all the Lord is doing. I'm praying you have a great Christmas season and truly enjoy what the Lord has given you! Here's a little video of Fletcher listening to music with Kayleigh and then playing with his Aunt Kristi. Enjoy...

Surgery update...

Fletcher's surgery went well today. They did end up having to poke and prod for a vein in about four different places. He was completely out of it of course, but still! I don't know if there was a communication error but we had to be at TCC at 6:30a in order to check in at 7:30a at the hospital. Well, come to find out the surgery was scheduled for 10:20a and that's when we went to surgery. So, that was a really long to wait with that stinker! We got back to TCC at 3:00. It was a very long day but he's doing well. Thank you all for praying for our little guy. We truly appreciate you so much! I didn't take any pictures today but I do have a video from last week. Here's a little back story on it though. All our nurse and RT friends will love it! Fletcher gets CPT (chest physio therapy) several times a day. CPT is a way to break up all the congestion and keep his lungs nice and clear. Well, they use a CPT cup and basically beat on his chest and back. Fletcher Burns loves CPT! But look at what he's taught himself to do...

Surgery...

Fletcher will have surgery in the morning sometime after 7:30am. The surgeon will be removing the old Hickman and prayerfully putting in a new one. Would you all mind praying for our boy tomorrow? The Lord's already answered one prayer that the surgery would be early in the morning so he can recover for a full day before coming home on Thanksgiving. Thank you, Lord!
We appreciate you all so much. I'll update you tomorrow after surgery. Thanks!

I'll leave you with a video I took this afternoon. Enjoy....

This girl keeps us busy...

Maddie that is! Let's see...Maddie sold cookie dough for her dance studio and was able to raise all but $34.00 of her tuition for the year! Thank you to everyone who bought cookie dough from her! The staff at TCC and my mom's work OCA bought a record amount! You guys are great!


Last night at Girl Scouts Maddie's Daisy group were the color guard for the opening of the meeting. We finally purchased her Daisy apron and my sister Kim pressed her badges and petals on it. Maddie and I have gone round and round about the placement of those badges! WOW! That girl is so argumentative! I don't know where she gets it! :)

Good ol' Troop 22

Today Maddie's school had Thanksgiving dinner for their lunch. I joined her for lunch. When we were in line with the rest of her classmates I realized these kids are 1st graders and this was their 'first' Thanksgiving meal at school. I heard several of the kids, mine included, make statements like, "WHAT IS THAT?" I'm guessing they've never seen turkey, dressing and gravy all lumped together! I volunteer in Maddie's classroom every Tuesday and it's been so fun getting to know her classmates. I really enjoyed having lunch with a few of them today.

Friends...

Maddie's BFF Emma

Last but not least. In May Maddie asked Jesus into her heart. The last few weeks she's been talking a lot about being baptized. She met with our pastor and we all believe she's ready. So, this Sunday, November 23 Maddie will be baptized. She's very excited and so are we! I'll post pictures next week. Please pray for Maddie this is a big step in her faith and we want it to be special.

Surgery...

Fletcher will have surgery next Wednesday. We won't know the time until Tuesday. We're thankful to have a date for surgery but it is the day before Thanksgiving so that's a bummer. We still plan to bring Fletcher home if he's doing well. I'm hoping for an early morning surgery so he can recover for the entire rest of that day. Anyway, please continue to pray for the little man and I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

I thought I'd leave you with this fun little video that I took last Sunday....

Update...

Fletcher didn't have his Pamidronate therapy today. His calcium and phosphorus levels are to high. And his central line has ruptured it will have to be surgically removed and replaced. So that means a trip to the OR soon. Please be praying that we can get him in with a surgeon that we like and that they will be able to find a place where they can put the new one. Sorry this is so short but I need to go pick up Kayleigh and we won't be home until after church tonight. Thanks so much.

Life...

Things are busy around here. We're gearing up for the holidays. It doesn't seem possible that Christmas could be 37 days away. So far all I've accomplished is my obsessive compulsion to have a family Christmas card photo made. You know the one, where every one's clothes have to match or coordinate in some way, the perfect place blah blah blah! Well, this year our friend, Sherry wanted to take our picture...OUTSIDE! We checked Fletcher out of TCC and headed to Sherry's neighborhood park. Fletcher loved the car ride and walking through the park. However, he hated getting out of his wheelchair and having his picture made! We did manage to get a few shots where he's not arching his back in a fit of anger! Oh well.


Kayleigh continues to enjoy school and her friends. She's such a social butterfly. She loves to go go go! This weekend her cell phone locked up on her so she was out of the loop for a few days. Good news her phone is fixed! Praise be!



Maddie's been quite the busy little beaver here the past few weeks. She received three awards at school last week. One was an attendance award for missing less than two days of school. Well, her friend Emma got a perfect attendance award. Neither one of the girls had any idea what attendance meant I guess because Maddie was sad that she didn't get a perfect announcement award! That girl! She also got to go to a birthday party where everyone wore their pajamas. That was lots of fun! She still loves her new desk. It's given all of us a little bit of quiet time. (wink wink) Maddie also found a Veggie Tales Silly Songs CD and she has literally been listening to it every chance she gets.

Fletcher is doing relatively well. He's having central line problems meaning it won't draw blood so he's having to be stuck for all his blood work each week. They are trying to limit his blood draws to as few as possible. I'm not sure what we'll do about that. I don't know if they'll want to replace it or not. He's got so much scar tissue he's running out of places to put them. So we'll see. He'll have his second Pamidronate therapy on Wednesday. It will run for three consecutive days this time. Please remember him him your prayers. We also plan to bring him home for Thanksgiving. We'll have a full house with Craig's parents and his sister Kristi and her family.

I have been busy at church, volunteering at Maddie's school, carpooling Kayleigh and her friends and of course, hanging out with Fletcher at TCC. I pulled out my canvases and paint yesterday afternoon. I'm working on a painting for my friend Steph's daughters nursery. It's definitely a work in progress but it feels good to be creative. Speaking of creative I have painted the master bathroom and I had a shower curtain and window treatment made. But the shower curtain isn't quite right and I'm trying to figure out what to do. So as soon as I get it all worked out I'll post some pictures.

Well, that's a lot of information for one sitting! So here's a little video of Fletcher from yesterday. He seems to have his days and nights mixed up and he's getting sleepy around 10:30 am. He was so sleepy when I was with him yesterday...

Going back to school...

Tomorrow, God willing Maddie will go back to school. It's been a long three days for both of us! We've taken care of all of her homework so she should be right on track when she gets back. I'll be honest I get cranky when my schedule is disrupted like it has been this week. It's been quite a juggling act trying to see Fletcher. I've had to wait until the end of the day to see him. It really hasn't been that bad and it's been great seeing him before he goes to bed. And he seems to be nicer late in the evening! So I have really enjoyed reading to and holding him. Fletcher has started giving hugs! Oh it's my most favorite thing right now! Well, it's late and I'm hoping for a normal routine tomorrow!

I voted...

Maddie is still home sick. We went to the doctor today and she has strep. So...she GOT to go vote with me. We were prepared for a long wait. We packed a backpack full of books and a throw up bucket! Well, the Lord was good to us and we got right in and we were out within 20 minutes! Boy have I heard stories of long lines and long waits! But, what a privilege we have as Americans to be able to have the right to vote. Today is a day that will go down in history no matter who wins. I'm praying that the Lord's good and perfect will be done. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. I'm praying for a President who believes in our country, has served our country and who believes in the sanctity of life. For me it boiled down to one issue. The right to live...when I've said that before I've had people tell me I'm full of hate. Wha...? I think it's more hateful to kill an unborn baby. Sometimes I just don't get it. I know some of you who read this blog have different political views and that's great. That's what America is about being able to believe how we want. People have fought and died to give us that right. I'm grateful to be an American. This post is not to get you upset it's simply me documenting a piece of history for my family. Please don't leave hateful comments if you don't agree with me, after all this is my blog. Thanks for respecting my right to express my thoughts on my blog.

Candy wrappers everywhere...

Well, Halloween has come and gone and the candy is slowly making it's way to all of our waistlines! Mostly mine I think! I can't walk past that candy and not pick up one or two pieces! Halloween always marks the beginning of the downward spiral of eating worse than I normally do. UGH!

Let's see...last Wednesday TCC had their little Harvest Festival. Fletcher had a great time. That evening our church had it's annual Holy Halloween. We made plans to check Fletcher out of TCC and spend the evening as a family. I got a call at about 2:30 from the school nurse informing me that Maddie was throwing up. I picked her up and cancelled our plans for going to Holy Halloween. Kayleigh went to help run a booth and hang out with friends. Maddie took about a three hour nap and woke up feeling great and she never threw up again. She was ready to put on her costume and head to church. I had to break the news that she wouldn't be able to go. She was sad but I promised her if she stayed well she could wear her costume to Bubba's on Halloween. That seemed to help. Maddie missed school the next day but she was perfectly fine all day.

Fletcher at Fall Festival (TCC)

On Friday, just as I promised we went to TCC. Now mind you, Fletcher was a complete toot and would not let me even put his 'Little Wild Man' Halloween shirt on him let alone a costume! One of my friends brought Fletcher a t-shirt that just had the body of Popeye on it. Fletcher would have been the perfect Popeye!Sadly, he didn't want to have anything to do with it. Oh well. After we left TCC Maddie and I headed over to see Mimi at her work. Maddie was a hit and everyone just doted all over her. Then my sister Kim called and invited us to trick or treat with some of the cousins. So we headed south and spent the evening with Kim, Kylie, K-Bub, Dawn, Mike, Zach, Amber, Matt, Gabe, Ryan and the Katybug! We had a blast and got a lot of candy! Kayleigh spent the night with her friend, Kelsey and they trick or treated in Kelsey's neighborhood.

My cute leopard!

The cousins

Maddie and Aunt Dawny's dog, Molly also in a leopard costume.

K-Bub (Joe Dirt) and Maddie

The Katybug and her mommy

Maddie and mommy

Last week was also Red Ribbon Week. Each day the kids were able to do some fun things. One day they were able to wear a hat and had black light bowling. They were also allowed to show support for there favorite team. Maddie wore a long sleeved OU shirt (no picture of that day) They also got to wear camo, this was the day Maddie stayed home. And on Friday they wear asked to wear red.

Red Ribbon week

Hat day and black light bowling

Today Maddie is home from school again. She woke up at 4:00 this morning with a fever of 101.4. She's slept a lot today and her temp was down to 99.3 at noon. Which means no school tomorrow via the district rules of no temp for 24 hours. At this time we are both still in our pj's. Maddie is watching a lot of TV and I've been cleaning out my closet trying to get ready for a charity pick-up on Wednesday morning. Yesterday Kayleigh informed me she needed a black dress for a concert she's in Tuesday! Nice. So, I guess we'll be spending the latter part of the afternoon looking for a dress and shoes. I think it must be payback for doing the exact same thing to my mom several times during my jr high/high school years. I haven't seen Fletcher today but I've checked on him and he's doing well. I'll go up there after we find a dress.