Kawasaki syndrome

There we were, me and Aylaroo, trying to help dr lund get to the bottom of what was causing my precious girl to feel so miserable.  dr lunds brow was furrowed as she asked about ayla's chapped lips.  the little lovey had been licking them frequently yesterday,  but she didnt seem dehydrated. And her red eyes? I thought a result of the ongoing whiny cry of a sick prinpress.

Well, dr lund says, I am concerned she may have Kawasaki syndrome.

We dont own a motorcycle,  I replied.

Kawasaki presents with 5 symptoms : strawberry mouth and tongue, red eyes, high fever for a minimum of 5 days, swollen hands and feet, and swollen lymph nodes. Ayla for sures had 3. Dr lund ordered a strep test to rule out that. Negative. A urine sample to rule out a bladder infection,  I got to take those tools home as sweet ayla was not super cooperative.  And some bloodwork testing for Kawasaki syndrome indicators.

Baby blue and I headed to the lab for the longest wait I have ever experienced at zeeland hospital. Still it was not bad, just anxiety filled knowing the poke will be awful and the results unknown.  two lab techs were on hand to assist in the blood draw, making the experience as smooth as possible.  First try and they got the blood they needed to read Kawasaki syndrome charcteristics.


We went home and baby blue went to sleep while I processed and halfheartedly prepared for a possible hospital stay.  After a quick Google search, I really felt quite confident that we were not dealing with this rare disease most common in korean children under the age of 2. I kept checking aylas temp by hand and thought maybe it was improving.

The waiting is so hard.


 three hours later, after conferring with a specialist at the center for disease control, reading the urine sample and conferring with a cardiologist at helen devos children's hospital,  dr lund called with the results. Kawasaki syndrome. I quickly called brad and reported the findings. He was also in a state of shock, but wrapped things up at work and heqded for home where I met him and began throwing things together for a hospital overnight.  Cupcakes things, my things, activities,  clothes, toiletries.  In the meantime, devos called, they were expecting us at 6.

We made arrangements with grandparents and I tried to explain what I really didnt understand to the boys. Bear was excited about the adventure and max was concerned.  Saying goodbye was sad and scary, but the boys remembered to tell me that they knew I loved them and Jesus was in their hearts.

We arrived to the devos complex completely overwhelmed and were directed to our room. Already the room had a welcome ayla sign and nurses began a tour and rundown until two residents arrived. They checked over a very anxious ayla and promised to discuss all her results and symptoms with a hospitaist. He arrived shortly  to confirm the diagnosis and try to explain the condition better.

Basically,  baby got a virus and for random reasons her immune system got confused and began attacking the lining of her own blood vessels rather than the virus itself. The main concern is that her coronary arteries will develop aneurysms.  obviously something real bad. Most children,  when they catch the syndrome within the first 10 days have no long-term affects. Ayla was on day 4. A very good thing. Kawasaki syndrome is not contagious,  just a random disease  they do  not know from where. there is a part of the blood that drs use to measure body ache, like when your whole body hurts from a bad case of influenza.  A healthy persons is at around 10. A person battling influenza is at 100. Ayla's was at 340. Cupcake was miserable.

The treatment, which is relatively new, consists of administering ivig intravenously.  this is a component of blood that somehow corrects the attack of the wrong thing inside a body. This procedure must be carefully monitored to ensure the patient does not reject the meds.  an intense aspirin therapy accompanies the ivig. An echocardiogram is performed to ensure no damage has occured to the coronary arteries.  The echo is repeated in 2 weeks, 8 weeks and a year later just to validate the hearts health.

During this informative lecture,  ayla whimpered and slept off and on. Her temp at that point was 103.8. brad and I were desperate to get some treatment underway.  while mixing the ivig, the nurses started prepping baby blue. Hooking her up to a pulse monitor on her toe, three stickers on her chest, a blood pressure cuff and the iv. Even with the use of some numbing cream, the iv was torturous.  Two tries, and lots of cries later, the nurse found a vein. Brad and I were astounded as those teeny tiny cupcake veins were so hard to see. The staff surely was experienced and caring with our daughter,  but the process was still excruciating for Aylaroo and her parents.

Around 10 pm, she was starting the dosage.  Her vitals were taken every 15 minutes to monitor how her body was dealing with the drugs. Translation: every 15 minutes the little girl freaked the freak out. She would yell, no more hugs! Thats how they referred to the blood pressue cuff.  Awful to witness her pain and fear,  especially when she would look up at me and scream mommy! I stayed right in bed with her, trying  make my pregnant body accommodating for all the nurses and the  little lovey. At one point, her fever spiked and we had to reduce the flow of the iv. Soon her body adjusted and she got the full allotment through the night and morning.

Taking her potty was such an ordeal.  Disconnecting some things, carrying the prinpress and pulling the iv behind me. Brad stayed with his girls until we were confident her body would accept the ivig, then took off for the boys. We decided it sucks to be the parent at home, and it sucks to be the parent in the hospital.  It just sucks.


Every 6 hours, sister needed 3.25 baby aspirin.  These are chewable and bitter and ayla jo was not a fan. At the 6am dosing, after sleeping since only midnight,  and getting woken every hour for vitals  baby blue put up a fight. She yelled at me, she squirmed as much as she could while connected to so many wires. She cried and cried a pathetic cry. So finally my resolve and strength crumbled. I also had the same sleep schedule as cupcake,  resulting in exhaustion.  Not sure who was crying harder at that point.

I checked in with Bradley.  All was well at home. And truly all was well in the hospital.  Things could not have been going more smoothly. It just still was super bad to endure. The morning flee by with visits from nurses, residents,  hospitalists and echocardiogram techs. Ayla did as well as could be expected.  So thankful for the on deand disney movies.

Grandma visited around lunch, and auntie debbie stopped in to witness the correction of darlings jarred iv. So sore and so scary. Ayla sweated and screamed and pleaded mommy and stop and your hurtling me! Aylaroo fell asleep for a couple hours on my lap on the couch. Uncle alex and auntie coki dropped in. When grandma and debbie left, my dad came. Alex and coco made a food run for mama since the hospital only provided the patient with food and not the pregnant mommy. Auntie beans and uncle austin stopped by. And finally daddy came with the brothers.  That was the most animated and excited.  Using her real voice insteax of the whiny whimper to tell the boys about all the treasures she had been receiving.  Aw.

dog therapy. Not so enthused

bear was disappointed he could not go to the play room because there was neither time nor opportunity.  I took the boys for dinner while brad cuddled with the darling.  I cherished those moments alone though the boys were wild. Too soon, the fam left for home and ayla and  I grieved for ourselves that we had to stay. Auntie amber and briella popped in with a beautiful distraction.  Aylaroo began to fade and I tried to soothe her asleep. Around 9 she dozed off. Around 9 :15 the nurses were back to check her vitals. Boo. Back to sleep finally,  I snuck off to shower. Aspirin again at midnight.  This time she threw it at me. More vitals and tears and aspirin at 6. Well, I flagged down a nurse and discussed the plan. We were on target to be discharged that day. Echocardiogram looked normal and no fever since 10 pm Monday.  Hallelujah.  I packed everything up and waited impatiently for the residents.  They confirmed the discharge order at 9 ish. I called brad with the good news and helped the little girl while they disconnected her. Her first words that morning when she awoke were, are we done? Almost there prinpress.

Daddy came to our rescue and we hightailed it out of there as fast as possible, dodging elevator and going for stairs as brad tried to recall where he parked.

Finally loaded up, little hawks called. Wes threw up at school. Awesome.  Here we come.

this day

Whenever I use the phrase"one of those days" I will forever and always refer to this day.

Things started at the usual frantic Monday morn pace. Does max have his homework?  Is it finished?  What about lunch, baggie books and a water bottle?  Is bear packed for school?  Does he have enough layers to keep him warm but not to hot at little hawks?  Is his rain suit packed?  then what about ayla jo? She had been running a temp since Thursday afternoon, and it had been high. Like 102 to 103 range.  She was miserable,  and my mommy anxiety was in high gear. So while assembling the troops and the gear I was also talking to drs and scheduling an appointment.

We quickly neared our time of departure,  so I started relocating the adorables from the house to the veen. That's when the chaos intensified.  After 2 out of the 3 babes were locked and loaded, I attempted to start the veen. Fail. Several tries later the veen still would not start.  I pregnant waddled/ran to the barn where old faithful stood at the ready.

The venture. 226 thousand miles of sorta dependability. buried deep inside the bowels of the barn, I made little effort to clear an exit path and hopped in. Brad has been building a new barn door with dan nyhof and the evidence was everywhere,  so its possible I may have hit a few discarded boards on my way to save the day and get my boys to school on time and take my daughter to the dr. But that's the best part about the venture,  not a problem if its wounded in battle.

So we reloaded all the babes and they giggled all the way to school about how stinky the van is and how smooth of a ride it is and how funny it is to have a vhs instead of dvd. At bear's stop, the neighbors exclaimed how silly it was for us to be driving that old van. I turned the venture off while dropping off wes as the venture tends to overheat while idling. Then I started it up, which took a little convincing.. Baby blue and I were back on the road , heading home to hook the new van to the charger and then run to zeeland for the dr.

All was well until m40. At the stop sign, the van died. Battery lights and check engine lights blinked and then faded til there was no power anywhere.  I called brad fast and furiously,  like 8 times in 3 minutes to no avail.  Then a random pulled in behind me, waiting to turn. So I hopped out and sauntered to her car in a spastic fashion.  She fearfully rolled her window down and I told her about the veen trouble and suggesed she just go around. Being the good Samaritan that she was, she asked if I was able to get ahold of someone for help. I answered honestly,  that nope I could not but that someone works just down the road so i plan to stroll over there. Nice lady offered me a ride, so I quickly grabbed my purse, the keys, my daughter,  her carseat and my pregnant self and shoved us all in her backseat for a quick trip to zoet poultry.

When we arrived I thanked kind stranger profusely and threw most everything except for cupcake into the tahoe, vehicle 3 for the morn. Then I began my search for my hubs. I wanted to give him his cell phome currently being charged in the Tahoe and let hime know about the abandoned vehicle waiting for his attention on the road before I commandeered his mode of transportation.

Launching myself into the egg room I bobbed and weaved and uttered the name brad as if it were a plea. Sensing my urgency,  one of the Spanish workers sprinted to house 7 and I lumbered behind awkwardly.  Brad took one look at this parade and rushed to my aide. He got us settled in the Tahoe and assured us he would handle the rest.

I sped off for zeeland physicians and prayed we would find some answers to help Aylaroo feel better. What we discovered next continues to confound us.

6 months preggo

Well hello baby

Here we are, 24 weeks pregnant.

since the adorable ruffles tended to hide that beautiful baby bump, i took a bare belly shot

thats a lot of baby in there. Wowsa. 

Last week i had my 6 month dr visit with dr olsen.  this is my first pregnancy with her as my other children were delivered by dr taylor and he is  no longer practicing at zeeland. Thus far, dr olsen has totally impressed me with her prompt and personal calls whenever i have some sort of testing done. last month we had  our ultrasound appointment performed by a tech. so we did not receive any info at the actual afternoon appointment.  Well, before 8am the next morn, dr olsen called to celebrate the fact that baby Ralph looked amazing,  no abnormalities whatsoever.  Hallelujah!  this month was the glucose test for gestational diabetes. My blood was drawn at 2:30 and dr olsen called with my passing results before 5 that evening.  

Perhaps she is sensitive to my pregnancy hormoned anxieties, perhaps we r just buds, regardless, i am so thankful for her fast result response.  so thankful as well for all the good results. Pregnancies are amazing and miraculous and hard. My  body and mind seem to have plenty going on with a normal/healthy pregnany, and I know that kinda pregnancy is a huge blessing.

Weight gain is steady and slowish. I consider my current weight to be at the high end of pre pregnancy normal for me. My baby bump and cheecks seem to have absorbed all the weight gain.

Food cravings have been minimal. I am still at the point of quick eating anything that sounds good before i lose my apetite. Mostly i have food aversions: still hating coffee, not such a fan of mcdonalds right now (difficult adjustment to make when i am so typically adoring their fried goodness),  and most foods I make sound delish and I end up hating moments later. I just threw away some pumpkin muffins and chocolate chip cookies because they got stale from waiting to be consumed. Shame! We got to experience cranes apple orchard twice this year and those honeycrisps have been tasting amazing. Also, i serve some sort of chicken and potatoes and gravy about once a week because of the yum.

Being preggo w/ baby 4 is such a different experience. Most of the time, my thoughts are continued amazement that this is happening. Now that i am further along than i have to go i am getting super anxious and super excited about whats coming next. The babe is the best part,  but there are so many teeny blessings along the way. Feeling baby ralph roll and kick and watching my tummy move with his/her life is miraculous and wondrous and beautiful. Listening to my current adorables exclaim at the size of my bump and at the future with  new baby is so precious. Hearing people's exclamations when they see me at work and ask if this is my first baby, and I reply actually this is my fourth always leaves me entertained.

People tend not use a filter when conversing with pregnant  me. A man once told me "you know, they figured out whats caused that now".

Lots of peeps wish me luck.  One lady asked what number baby this was and then told me she was going to tell me to keep going but it looks like i already did.

One man asked if i swallowed a watermelon seed, and a young girl will forever be traumatized since she asked if i had a big lunch and i replied, no, there is a baby in there. in horror she screamed, you ate a baby?!

mostly though, i have been encouraged and supported.  already mothering three small adorables leaves me weary when growing a fourth, especially when harvest is under way.

 So i am forever grateful for the love shown me by friends and fam and public alike.

One conclusion i have recently come to is my need to refer to the baby as something other than baby ralph, the usual moniker given by the brothers. i can only picture a tiny 40 year old man complete with beard and mustache, red in color. Not a comforting image wnen referring to my sure to be cute .little sweet baby. My sister in, law told me that while praying for me and babe, she referred to the newby as precious little morsel. Love that! Ralph also makes it difficult to even consider giving birth to a beautiful baby girl! I adore the name rafe, and its similarities to ralph are super so i tried that for a few days. The brothers were not accepting of that idea. For a girl baby i tried willow out, but hate the nickname will...reya is so sweet, but very simlar to ayla... brad has 2 names and he is stuck on those. I keep working him though, providing more cute options daily. Thankful we have some time yet to decide.

Living as an incubator is a special time that i am cherishing. Especially since i did not predict getting this opportunity again. i delight in every whirl and twirl, guessing if those will be soccer kicks or gymnastics moves when the adorable is born. As we enter into the remaining 15 weeks, my prayer is that baby continues to develop beautifully and that the lord uses this time to prepare us for this blessed bundle. 

our little hawk

This week brought the start of little hawks,  bears preschool program through Hamilton community schools. Finally. truly,  I felt the same longing to keep bear home with me as I did before Maxwell started 1st grade. However,  Weston was way more eager to begin his education this fall. Bear adores socialization and planning and activity galore.  I found it challenging to keep him stimulated and away from the wii. Bear tolerated my attempt s at educational games and activities only because those were the methods that he earned mario time.  So on Monday,  I was absolutely ready to surrender some of the educating to the professionals; and bear was beyond prepared for some interaction with his buddies and some guided play and learning.

Day 1 involved parents.  This was cool considering I appreciated the opportunity to witnessthis nature infused eeducation first hand.  Grandma came to care for ayla jo and I got to focus on my sons preparedness for the day. We were at Sandy view at record time and made it to little hawks right on schedule.  Wes found his hook and hung up his backpack. He located his nametag, a slice of log with his name on it. Then we headed outside.  We spent the hour playing soccer,  freeze tag, painting at an outdoor easel and getting to know some friends.  To my delight,  there are several amazing parents who chose little hawks for their children as well! So I would be deep in conversation with another mama about the differences between our first and second children and notice bear was out of sight.

A quick search would locate Weston reading with ms. Rachel or riding on a trike.  Regardless of his activity, he was oblivious to my presence. Eventually,  ms. Rachel's squirrel call alerted everyone to gather together for a story. We then went on a hike looking for shapes froggy had hidden in the woods. Wes found the rhombus. Yes, they used the term rhombus. I was impressed!  Well, we hiked back to the classroom for a fortifying snack of goldfish and proceeded to explore all the toys and books inside. Small group time involved creating a stick with streamers attached to it. Bear was excited about his creation.So was baby blue, she aksed for one one for her bibirthday.  Grandma dropped cupcake off early at the school so Aylaroo got to experience some little hawk action herself.

 monday bear went all alone, no mama allowed.  He was eager to go and very enthusiastic when I retrieved him. Apparently,  the class hiked to locate some poison ivy. They even learned a song about it: poison ivy poison ivy, makes me itch, makes me itch, three shiny leaves, three shiny leaves stay away, stay away.it seems to me, that by the time bear graduates from little hawks next spring, he will be able to survive in the wilderness for days on end.


One of the amazing mothers was telling me that she had spotted maxer at school the day before and joked with max by asking him if he thought bear would get into trouble at little hawks. Maxwell responded very seriously,  well no, Weston is not naughty.  What a fabulous brother!  i do think max may have a different answer today though... while jumping on the trampoline last night,  max went underneath the tramp andb bear bounced directly on his raised feet, knocking maxers knee into his cheeck. Ouch. It left quite a wound and resulted in many tears and the end of our outdoor play.  Max has been telling people he got Iin a fight with an ox, and that's why he has that owie.

Today bear was excited to be off to school again.  He was independent and ready to play!  so thankful for those smooth drop offs. Ayla jo and I are enjoying our girl time. We had a snack,  blue took a  bath with her mermaids she chose from the dollar tree Friday night after the boys successful haircuts, and we  made some hopefully delish bread.. Now we are snuggled watching dora til mama gets motivated to pick up the nest.

fall { ing}

Last year, I remember waiting to settle into our fall routine.  I patiently spent September figuring I only had to hang on til October to feel adjusted.  October came and brought more hectic mornings and bedtime battles. November had hunting trips and holidays. December is always crazy. Maybe February started to feel normal,  but when I factor in stomach flus and coughs and runny noses, there was not a dull  moment among the winter. And when spring came, I was still forgetting Maxwell's sandyview t-shirt for his field trip. As the school year ended, my pregnancy began and mornings were complicated with awful nausea and accompanying throw up.


So, this fall, I am more prepared for the feelings of never being completely prepared.  After the first couple of weeks I experience equal parts accomplishment and exhaustion. As night approaches once again,  I have a little pride at successfully completing another day and a lot of apprehension contemplating doing it all over again in far to few hours.
Even the weekends are full in the fall. Both boys competed in intense soccer games this Saturday.  We were so blessed to have lots of family supporting those adorable soccer studs. Auntie meg and uncle Austin even made signs that were promptly whisked upstairs to their room to display.

As brads work week was especially hectic moving birds, we intended to take full advantage of the blessing of a Sabbath.  The cool and rainy ish weather worked to our advantage as we nested, grilled some ham steaks which were completely devoured by our boys, and took some time to play the wii and watch a show. then we were off to check on the pumpkins, the only produce remaining in our garden.

We found lots of orange and immediately the adorables laid claim to the pumpkin of their choice. The afternoon involved lots of cleaning for those lucky pumpkins.

Warm, soapy water and dirty garden goods kept those babes busy.

The children were proud of their punkins, remembering when we planted them so long ago.

Thankfully,  pumpkins are forgiving plants. They survived two camping trips of almost total neglect. They overcame little piggies walking right over top of their tender shoots.  They fought the weeds and drought. They matured beautifully thanks to Gods grace.

So, this fall, i am doling out grae and relishing in the grace of god.

Like when max whined and complained about homework,  I graciously shortened his assignments each night untik I gave up completely and had to force him into finishing 3 days worth on sunday. Maxwell was less than impressed.  One of those assignments was to locate his word wall words in magazine s. well here we were sunday afternoon and the only magazines I had on hand were shape and Cosmo.  Neither of which are very suitable for my young son. I perused the ads for the words and then ripped out the pages so as to sheild maxer from the content. Grace!

Like how in desperation to visit with one of my besties I brought the tablet along to bigby and downloaed unlimited episods of my little pony and upgrades to despicable me 2 the game for entertain bear so I could converse.

Like when when I purchased yet another wand from the target salvage bins at goodwill for ayla jo so she would comply w/ my need to stop at the grocery store for milk on the way home.  although the problem of owning to many magic wands was solved on the way home when bear broke the new wand while attempting to remove the tag. Regardless,  I needed and gave grace.

Because truly all is well and we will thrive just like those pumpkins. Its fall ya'll!

he is 5

My middle,  my second son full of spit and vinegar and heart and fiest, Weston bear, you are 5!  this is an entire hand. This is serious. especially for bear bear, birthday celebrating is high on the list of things requiring much attention.

Thankfully brad and I are quite aware of this opportunity to demonstrate to our son how we value and adore him. The lord is also incredibly conscious of this precious boy and his love of being loved.  so , we all got together,  jesus, brad and I, and brad located and purchased a  trampoline off craigslist for a screaming deal. Bradley stealthy bought the tramp and secured it on the trailer whilst I had the adorables distracted at soccer games. He is so good!

Again with the knowledge of bears expectations,  we decided to celebrate on Sunday in addition to Monday as all fam members would be able to participate all day long. Also,  brad and I were so excited to gift Weston his tramp there was no way we could wait more than was completely necessary.  Saturday was a full and fun day during which both boys had soccer games,  we attended the flywheel association's equipment parade and flea market , and visited cranes for an apple picking adventure.   We settled in at a decent time all together in the nest and slept hard until Sunday dawned and it was time to party.

After changing his mind 32 times, Weston settled on cinnamon rolls rather than donuts for breakfast.  He got first choice and devoured his danish. Bear had already been asking after some details about his gifts, size, whether you could eat it, etc. Enough was enough, so brad retrieved the trailer holding the trampoline and I allowed the boys some wii time. They were busy passing new levels, but when brad suggested heading outside to check for any presents, the boys quickly ditched mario.

There, hooked upside down to the trailer, was the trampoline.

  Bear loved it.

I bravely assisted brad in flipping the tramp right side up and the adorables were on and jumping. They continued to jump the entire day long, breaking only for meals and a brief rest time enforced by the parents as it is exhausting watching all that exercise!



the weather was cool but sunny and brad and I spent the day watching the babes learn new tricks and reach new bouncing heights. At one point, wes suffered a deep depression regarding the fact that he only received one present from us. Things were not okay in his world, brad had to chase wes down after he took off on his bike for a new family. To my hormonal mind, this was a big deal. What were we doing wrong that Weston felt dissatisfied with a grand gift, that he felt entitled to more though he could come up with nothing else he really wanted other than more!? While bear regrouped in his room, I took some time to regroup as well. We both recognized wes' age plays a significant role in his behavior.  Also, ours is a society of entitlement and materialism.  The brief experience of disappointment allowed for brad and I to discuss these things and consider ways to raise our children to be counterculturally grateful and aware of the abundance god has graciously given us . A challenge,  but one we feel god callifng us to. Pray for us that we lead with our example how to live a life of respondent thanksgiving.

20 minutes following bear's quest for a new family,  we were happily ensconced in the veen heading to McDonald's,  Weston's dinner choice. He came out of his sadness with a grateful heart and apologized to brad for his words and behavior.  So proud of that big boy behavior!

A bonus nest night concluded the family day of celebrating Weston . Do not worry,  bear's actual day was quite special as well. I served his zucchini bread breakfast with a candle. We created a special perler/hamma bead circle.   lunchables were the stars of our special birthday lunch. Weston played way more wii than typically allowed. I made special pancakes from scratch and some yummy pumpkin cake for supper. We added a sprinkler under the trampoline for added fun.

And, bear had soccer practice during which his sophomore coaches made him feel super special by gathering the entire team around him and singing happy birthday.  They had a scrimmage against another team having practice in a nearby field.  Bear scored the one and only goal of the mini game much to his delight. That little face is priceless.  We came home for cake and a quick visit with daddy until we all collapsed in exhaustion.

O lord,  thank you for our Weston bear! Thank you for his spirit of courage, and his sweet personality.  Thank you for teaching us about you through wes. Please protect wes and guide him faithfully as he learns to use his strong will to do big things in your kingdom.

first grade

Well the dust has settled somewhat after Maxwell's big first day of first grade.  first grade is a big deal, and my son is a big boy. Really,  I could not be more proud of my oldest.

Maxer was apprehensive about this new adventure.  His nature is of a cautious and calculated sort. He does not adore wild rides on the frogger or the skytrack. No, he prefers hours on end farming or  playing outdoors. Max takes comfort in knowing what to expect. So a first day in a new grade is unnerving.  He vocalized his unrest by speaking of the long hours he must spend at school,  "it just takes so long".. truth.

We spent the night before school mini golfing as a fam followed by a beautiful dining experience at arbys  I got a bit weepy over my beef and cheddar,  mourning the end of summer and the pain of surrendering my adorables to become themselves more without me. (Do keep in mind my 20 wk pregnant hormones are raging) during my messy
 attempt to put into words my emotions at the time, bear interrupts and asks brad "what? Does she want another chicken strip?" Those do sometimes help....

We got the babes settled early,   especially necessary as they are all suddenly battling colds. I prepared all I could and went to bed early as well. Everyone was up on time and eager for the day.  things went smoothly and bradley came home to pray over our oldest as he sets out to conquer 1st grade .

 We arrived to Sandy view with all that was required and before the bell. I started to walk max inside  to assist with locker location and snap some pics. when i shared my master plan with my son, he politely asked if i could please settle for a quick pic by the veen rather than joining him on the inside. i reluctantly obliged and reminded him mommy loved him and jesus was in his heart. then we left.

The best part was picking him up again at the end of the day. as soon as he saw me waiting in the lobby, maxer's entire being exuded pride and excitement. he smilingly made his way over and gripped me in a huge hug. he reported the first day of first grade to be fun!

Max, you made daddy and me so proud for being brave and trying your best. So excited to see you grow and learn this year. We are so blessed to have you as our son!