Keeping Up With The Jones'

Aww Man.

2012-02-08T08:20:00.006-05:00

Here is a little mid week cuteness to start the day off of Bryce saying the blessing at dinner.

I pray everyone has a blessed day, Aww-man.

Happy Friday.

2012-02-03T08:35:00.008-05:00

Today the girls had a celebration at school for the "100th Day of School".
The kids were allowed to dress up like old people. Not sure if what we came up with looks anything like an "old person", but we did our best. I think the dollar store reading glasses (sans lenses) we bought were a nice touch.

Acting like "old ladies".
They were walking around this house like this all morning.
Makes me giggle just thinking about it.

********

Bryce enjoyed some outside playtime yesterday before we headed out to get the girls from school. He burned off some energy and I got to enjoy time with just my little man. We have been enjoying beautiful mild weather here in the south.
Winter should always be in the upper 60's.
I'm just sayin...

This. Is. AMAZING!!!

2012-01-31T13:27:00.004-05:00

I was rather busy today and hadn't had a chance to waste time on Facebook like I normally do. I went to pick Bryce up from school and while waiting in the carpool like I hit up the old Facebook to see what was going on. This is the news that greeted me...

FDA approves Kalydeco to treat rare form of cystic fibrosis

Say WHAT?! I was so not expecting to see this news today and I'm not going to deny that I didn't break down in tears of joy. I knew this drug was awaiting approval, but to actually see it set in stone...AMAZING!!! Kalydeco works to correct the underlying issues of one of Bryce's mutations. The mutation is called G551D and it is a rare mutation that affects approximately 4% of the CF population - that is roughly 1200 people. Our boy is one of 1200. To me, this is like winning the lottery. I don't know what this means for Bryce as of yet, but the fact that I know this drug is available is an amazing feeling. There isn't anything I can do to "fix" Bryce, but this drug definitely gives us hope that a long and normal life is a reality for him.

Read the good news below or click HERE.

FDA NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Jan. 31, 2012
Media Inquiries: Morgan Liscinsky, 301-796-0397; morgan.liscinsky@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA approves Kalydeco to treat rare form of cystic fibrosis
Breakthrough therapy targets defective protein

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kalydeco (ivacaftor) for the treatment of a rare form of cystic fibrosis (CF) in patients ages 6 years and older who have the specific G551D mutation in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) gene.

CF is a serious genetic disorder affecting the lungs and other organs that ultimately leads to an early death. It is caused by mutations (defects) in a gene that encodes for a protein called CFTR that regulates ion (such as chloride) and water transport in the body. The defect in chloride and water transport results in the formation of thick mucus that builds up in the lungs, digestive tract and other parts of the body leading to severe respiratory and digestive problems, as well as other complications such as infections and diabetes.

CF, which affects about 30,000 people in the United States, is the most common fatal genetic disease in the Caucasian population. About 4 percent of those with CF, or roughly 1,200 people, are believed to have the G551D mutation.

“Kalydeco is an excellent example of the promise of personalized medicine – targeted drugs that treat patients with a specific genetic makeup,” said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. “The unique and mutually beneficial partnership that led to the approval of Kalydeco serves as a great model for what companies and patient groups can achieve if they collaborate on drug development.”

The FDA reviewed and approved Kalydeco in approximately three months under the agency’s priority review program that is designed to expedite the review of drugs. The priority review program uses a six-month review, instead of the standard 10 months, for drugs that may offer significant advances in treatment over available therapy.

Kalydeco was approved ahead of the drug’s April 18, 2012 prescription user fee goal date and is designated as an orphan drug, which identifies the disease as affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the United States.

In patients with the G551D mutation, Kalydeco, a pill taken two times a day with fat-containing food, helps the protein made by the CFTR gene function better and as a result, improves lung function and other aspects of CF such as increasing weight gain.

“Kalydeco is the first available treatment that targets the defective CFTR protein, which is the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This is a breakthrough therapy for the cystic fibrosis community because current therapies only treat the symptoms of this genetic disease.”

Two 48-week, placebo-controlled clinical studies involving 213 patients, one in patients ages 12 years and older and another in patients ages 6 years to 11 years, were used to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Kalydeco in CF patients with the G551D mutation. In both studies, treatment with Kalydeco resulted in significant and sustained improvement in lung function.

Kalydeco is effective only in patients with CF who have the G551D mutation. It is not effective in CF patients with two copies of the F508 mutation in the CFTR gene, which is the most common mutation that results in CF. If a patient’s mutation status is not known, an FDA-cleared CF mutation test should be used to determine whether the G551D mutation is present.

The most common side effects of Kalydeco include upper respiratory tract infection, headache, stomach ache, rash, diarrhea, and dizziness.

Kalydeco is manufactured by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.

My Nanny

2012-01-15T14:05:00.020-05:00

Another chapter of life has come to a close. Yesterday, January 14, 2012, I said goodbye to my last living grandparent. My grandmother, Elizabeth Lois High; lovingly known as Nanny, is now living her eternal life in Heaven.

This is the vision that kept popping up in my head yesterday. This was taken a few months before my grandmother got a terrible burn on her leg which was the start of her deteriorating health. Prior to that...this woman seemed almost unstoppable!! She was amazing.
I love how Bryce and Nanny are looking at each other...and he is smiling at her!

On January 5th I took the girls to see Nanny after Jordyn finished up her dance class. Mom had told me earlier in the day that the end was near. I wanted Nanny to see the girls and for them to see her before she passed. I can't begin to say how happy I am that I took the girls to see her that night. Jordyn had on her dancing clothes and did some ballet for her. Sydney joined in as well. It was so sweet. Nanny's eyes never left the girls for the time we were there. I'm not 100% sure if she knew who they were, but she definitely enjoyed watching them. When we first walked in the room I think Nanny was a bit confused. She looked at my mom, then me and then at the girls. My guess is she was like...wow, all these girls look the same!

4 Generations together one last time. :)

On the morning of the day she passed I got a text from my mom saying that the end was drawing closer. Sydney and I met up with my brothers at the nursing home around lunch to let her know one last time how much we love her. It was very hard seeing my grandmother laying there in such a frail way. She did not look anything like she did just a week before so I immediately looked to Sydney to make sure she was okay. I think my brothers were very taken aback by her appearance as well. Being in that room seemed to transport me back to the deaths of my paternal grandparents. It's been years since my other grandparents passed, but its kind of like reliving each of their deaths again. It's seems so strange that all of my grandparents are gone. It's a good feeling to know I was blessed with some pretty fabulous grandparents that helped me make some pretty special memories.

After our visit with Nanny, my brothers and I went to lunch with mom. Nanny passed away while we were on our way back from lunch. We had dropped mom off at the nursing home and within just a few minutes she called to say that she was gone. I called my brothers and we all turned around to go back to check on mom. My aunt Bonnie had come for a visit while we were at lunch so Nanny was not alone when she passed. I was worried my mom would be upset that she wasn't there, but she said that she knew she would probably go while we were at lunch. I'm glad my brothers and I were with mom. We had a really enjoyable lunch together...a great memory to have.

As always it's so bittersweet saying goodbye to a loved one. I'm sad...the family is sad, but at the same time we are thrilled she is without pain.
She is free from the shackles of this life...
She has seen Jesus...
How absolutely amazing is that?!

Some of the pictures from the last 3 years...

Nanny with her girls: Judy (Right), Bonnie (Left) and Nancy (my mom in the red).

Her 88th birthday last January. She would have been 89 on January 21st.

A favorite picture!

New Year...New Looks

2012-01-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

I have several home projects lined up for 2012. We have been in our house now for 7 years and we are definitely in need of changing things up. I got a little head start on home projects this past week by painting Sydney's bedroom and the kids bathroom.

Sydney moved into her "big girl room" just before she turned 2. I was pregnant so we wanted to make the switch from nursery to big girl room way before baby was due. Her big girl room was a labor of love. I worked on the stripes in that room in all my pregnant glory for what seems like forever. I loved the end product and have loved it for the past 6 years, but atlas my girl is coming into her own and requested a change to her room. Can you believe that she requested to paint over those stripes?? So, after receiving new bedding for Christmas we all headed to the Home Depot to pick out her new room color. She picked some colors and I picked some. In the end...Sydney's choice won out. It was hard to let go of the reins, but with a little push from Bryan I let Sydney pick the color she wanted.

Her room before:

Her new revamped room:

The room is not completely finished yet. I have Bryan making me a crown molding shelf that I saw on Pinterest to go on the wall where her closet is. I still want to add some sort of decoration to the wall her bed pushes up against, but haven't found exactly what I'm looking for. I'm hoping Hobby Lobby will pull through for me with that. I'm thinking I may add curtains or valance...time will tell.

My girl is so happy with her new room and I ended up loving the color she picked so it's a win~win for everyone!

*****

Next up with the kids bathroom. For the past year I have been on a nautical kick. There is a port hole window in the kids bathroom so naturally I felt nautical was the way to go for a redo on their bathroom.

Bathroom before:

The finished product:

I love the color and I LOVE the towel holder Bryan made. I give him props because it was his idea to put the anchor hooks (from Hobby Lobby) on a strip of old wood. I have a few more decorative touches to add once I find exactly what I'm looking for, but overall this redo turned out just how I hoped.

We are off to a good start around the Jones home...now to keep the momentum going.

Christmas 2011: The Day

2011-12-29T10:00:00.010-05:00

Just like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day was perfection. I absolutely loved the excitement that was oozing out of my kids. Do you remember that magical feeling you got as a child on Christmas morning. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of Christmas morning and I hope my kids are making some of their own favorite Christmas morning memories as well.

Much to my surprise I was the first one up on Christmas morning around 7:00. I waited as patiently as I could, but by 7:45 I was itching to get the festivities started. Our first priority on Christmas morning was Bryce's treatments. After a 30 minute beat box session and a breathing treatment we were ready to roll. I quickly want to give my girls a shout out here...they are always so patient and supportive of Bryce's needs. Never do they complain about having to wait for him to do do his treatments and typically they sit on the floor and share their blankets with him while he does his thing. Proud of how sweet my girls are and how much they love their brother. After treatments we brushed hair and brushed teeth our day got started.

I took an obnoxious amount of photos as usual. Instead of uploading a few I made a slide show.

Our day started with seeing what Santa brought, followed by a breakfast of Entenmann's donuts. This is a tradition I carried over to my family from when I was a kid. It's not Christmas morning until I have sunk my teeth into a delicious chocolate Entenmann's donut! After breakfast we opened up family gifts from under the tree. By the time we finished opening gifts and had ourselves a marshmallow gun fight it was time to get ready to head to my Aunt Carole's house for a yummy lunch. From Aunt Carole's we headed over to Bryan's parents house for dinner and gifts. Papa and Honey made a yummy dinner as well, but I was so incredibly full from lunch I didn't eat anything. I just couldn't fit anything else in my stomach!!

Christmas 2011 was just about perfect. Nothing better than celebrating the birth of our Savior with the ones you love most...our families. We are so blessed to be surrounded on all sides by amazing family. I love each and everyone of them...probably more than they really know.

Click the play button to enjoy the slide show.

Chrismtas 2011: The Eve

2011-12-26T20:03:00.025-05:00

Christmas has come and gone...in a flash of course. I'm going to put this Christmas down as one of my favorite yet. Everything was perfect and I couldn't have asked for the festivities to be any better.

We kicked off the birthday of our Savior on Christmas Eve by heading to a live nativity. We went to this nativity last year and loved it so we wanted to visit again this year. There are lots of animals to see so the kids love it. Jordyn was really into brushing each and every one of animals. My mom had to pry the brush from her so other kids could have a turn.

Sydney was into feeding the animals handfuls of grass and she also liked sweet talking the animals.

Bryce was a little stand-offish with some of the animals, but LOVED the rooster. He wanted to spend most of his time chatting the feathery guy up. At one point we walked past the manger and I said to Bryce, "Look, there's baby Jesus". He looked around confused and said, "Where's Mary?" as she wasn't standing right next to the manger. He ended up spotting her across the way talking to a group of people and was so excited to see her.

After the nativity we headed home for dinner. My mom, dad and brothers always join us on Christmas Eve for dinner. We joke and say our house is "neutral territory". Every year we have breakfast for dinner...it's our little tradition and I love it.

Everything on Christmas Eve was perfect. I had the best time hanging out with my family. Everyone was in good spirits and we ended up having a lovely little evening. I think my favorite part of the night was taking photos. Usually this turns out to be a drag, but everyone was in such a silly mood it made for some really fun pictures.

This is just one of several pictures my mom took of me trying to annoy Joey (a favorite past time of mine) while he was deep in conversation with Bryan. After about 5 of these photos he finally realized what was going on and ended up snapping at me which is basically what I was going for. Brother and sister aggravation never gets old...no matter what our ages are!

Dad is sporting some new facial hair or as Bryce says, "Pop has grass on his face". In all of my 36 years I have never seen my dad with a beard so I'm still trying to get used to it.

A watch snap-bracelet...SWEET! Thanks Pop!

This is a really great pictures of my mommy.

Sydney was more than thrilled to get a new robe.
The one she has been sporting is about 3 sizes too small for her.
Thanks Uncle Jay!

Uncle Jay's personal shopper got this at Learning Express. It's called: "My Little Sandbox" and it's a fabulous toy. I highly recommend it...they have boy and girl themed boxes.
This will be coming with us on clinic days for sure.

Joey got Bryan a new pair of Oakleys...very cool.
You can never have too many pairs of nice sunglasses.

The kids loves their crazy uncles.

What up yo?!

Nerd.

This string of pictures is hilarious.
I didn't post all of them because there are too many, but they are all pretty funny.

You know it's a fun time when Joey is even participating.

Great family photo.

This picture cracks me up...check out Joey's face.
See people, he really can be fun.

Silly Shot!
I wonder where Jay and I get the whole open your mouth wide in ever picture??
Hmm....

My favorite baby brothers.

A family photo WITH Boss!! It's a Christmas miracle!!

Me and mom.

Me and my daddy.

More from Christmas 2011 to come...stay tuned.

Get Your Walk On

2011-12-22T15:33:00.010-05:00

Who's ready for the 2012 Great Strides walk in Atlanta?

Team Bryce Bryce Baby...that's who!

I officially registered our team for our 4th year of participation. I hope many of our friends and family will join us in this fantastic fundraising event. Last year our team raised over $10,000 and the Atlanta walk raised over 1 million dollars. We must continue the momentum and do again in 2012 so we can get more drugs like Kalydeco into the hands of CF patients. The CF community as a whole has made "Great Strides" over the past several years in developing some pretty amazing drugs that will change the lives of patients with CF.

If you would like to donate to our team, join our team or do both please click the following link and follow the directions.

http://www.cff.org/great_strides/BryanAndJenniferJones

Got questions?
Feel free to contact me and I'll answer whatever I can for you. If any of our friends who don't live in Georgia want to host a Team Bryce Bryce Baby in their own state let me know and we can find a walk near you.

We participate in the walk and ask for donations because of this guy right here. We do it all for him...and for all our little CF friends:
Madeline, Rad, Gavin, Ben, Sophie, Bryce and Peter
just to name a few!

"B" is for Busy.

2011-12-19T11:16:00.022-05:00

If you look up the work busy in the dictionary you might find a picture of this crew right here.

I know I must sound like a broken record since I mention being busy in almost every blog I write, but I seriously...I preach the truth. The past 3 months have been insanely busy for our little family, but this morning I woke up to find myself in unfamiliar territory. I woke up and did not have ONE thing that had to be accomplished today.

Are you kidding me?

Heaven I tell you.

The girls have been busy all morning working on their new crafty gifts they got from cousin Lexi and Bryce has been walking around the house dressed as a cowboy/pirate/rock star race car obsessed little boy. It has been so refreshing and relaxing. I'm thinking we need WAY more days like this!

Since I haven't had much time to update the old blog I figured I would post pictures of some of the "goings on" around our house.

First up...

Buddy.
Our Elf on the Shelf has been rather entertaining this year. Yes, our elf has gotten into some mischief, but by no means it is every night nor is it very elaborate. Some nights he just does the boring old hide in random spots and other nights he has gotten into a tiny amount of mischief. Either way the kids really enjoy the whole elf concept so we embrace it. Hopefully the mom who writes this blog (click here) won't throw me into the "over achieving Elf on the Shelf mommies" group. ;) If you haven't read this particular post on the blog titled "People I want to Punch in the Throat", you must because it's a good laugh. Several of her blog post are extremely funny...I dig her style. :)

*Notice that Raja is in the back seat...chaperoning Jasmine's date with Buddy of course.

Buddy also stacked marshmallows into towers and hung off the foyer balcony like mistletoe with a sign that said "Kiss", but I forgot to take pictures.

****
We made Christmas cookies and decorated them. This was such a hit with the girls that I've bought more supplies so we can make more cookies this week. I'm VERY good at coming up with excuses to make delicious goodies!

Uncle Andy helped too.

Beautiful AND delicious!

*****
The Mullinax family came over for dinner one night. The kids exchanged gifts and were thrilled with their new treasures.

*****
Sydney's school holiday performance. Total unorganized chaos (on the schools part), but my girl gave it her all! She was so excited for us to watch her sing.

*****
This past Sunday was a big day. We had not one, but two family Christmas parties to attend. After church we headed to my mom's to hang with her side of the family. Pictured below. From there we headed to Bryan's parents house to celebrate with his entire side of the family. Of course I forgot to take pictures, but just know they are an equally good looking group. ;)

*****
These are just some of the fun activities we have been up to. Tomorrow Bryce has a Christmas performance at his preschool. He will be one of the "Heavenly Host of Angles". It will be a miracle if he can sit still through the short program. Hopefully I'll get some cute pictures and maybe even a video.

Holly and Jolly!

2011-12-01T10:40:00.021-05:00

Holy Cow!!!
It can't be December already?
Weren't my kids just dressed up in Halloween costumes?
And how did November start and end before I could even register
that it was actually November.
Somebody...slow this life down like NOW...please.

So yea - it's December which means there is high excitement and high energy levels at our house. Before we left on the cruise...remember that...not even a mere week ago; we had the inside of the house ready to go for Christmas.

Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care...
Our banisters were lit up with a mix of red and white lights...

And of course my favorite Christmas decoration of all time, (the ceramic light up Christmas tree that was my grandmother's) was placed perfectly in it's spot next to the nativity set. The only thing missing was our Christmas tree, which we promptly purchased the night we arrived back from the cruise. Bryan and I were beat after our travels so we pushed the tree decorating off until the next day.

The girls were itching to decorate the tree and were literally oozing with anticipation as I unpacked all the ornaments and laid them out on the dining room table. Each of the kids has their own box of ornaments. I let them buy any ornament they want each year to add to their collection and typically they get a few more given to them as well. I write their initials and date on the bottom of each ornament along with who gave it to them if it was a gift. Each kiddo gets to put their own ornaments on the tree each year, which they think is the coolest thing ever. One day when my babes move out on their own they will have their own little ornament collection to take with them! Hopefully they will think this is as cool as I think it is.

The girls were in heaven decorating the tree and the boy had no interest what-so-ever as he was playing with his race cars.
The tree is finished and looks lovely. I can't really take any credit for the end result because I didn't hang many ornaments at all since I was taking photos. So what you see is mostly the work of Bryan and the girls.

This year I'm trying out a new "tradition" if you will with the kids. Instead of doing the standard advent calendar I'm doing a book countdown until Christmas. (I got the idea off of Pinterest). Each night (we started on December 1)the kids can take turns unwrapping one book to read before bed. The books all deal with Christmas or winter in some way or another. My hope is we can make this a tradition in our home and add a new book or two to our collection as the years go by. I was short a couple of books so I ended up picking up a few fillers from the thrift store to get us through this year. The kids were so excited to read the first book and for a solid 15 minutes I had the full attention of 3 kids. Success! Sydney had the honor of choosing the first book and she picked A Bad Kitty Christmas (The Bad Kitty books are pretty cute). GREAT book if your looking for a fun Christmas book by the way.
The books all wrapped up!

So as you can see, Christmas celebrations are in full swing here at the Jones house. I can't wait to experience all the magic this month has to offer. Watching the kids enjoy this time of year makes me one happy mom!

Ready. Set. Sail.

2011-11-27T22:23:00.021-05:00

We booked a cruise for our 10 year anniversary 8 months ago. Our 10th anniversary came and went on October 20th during volleyball season so hence why we pushed our celebration back until after the season was over. It made complete since to sail during Thanksgiving so Bryan didn't have to miss any work. We had debated back and forth...5 day or 7 day. Ultimately we settled on the 5 day because we just didn't want to be away from the kids that long nor did we want to ask anyone to watch our kids for that long. It was odd not being with the family on Thanksgiving, but we had good table mates so the conversation was good. I can say that although the the Thanksgiving meal on the ship was lovely, it didn't hold a candle to my aunt Carole's cooking!

Our cruise day arrived...on my birthday no less...Happy Birthday to me. Yep, I turned 29 for the 6th time. ;) We caught a flight (that was delayed by an hour and 45 minutes) and finally boarded the Liberty of the Seas. She's big...REAL big. There were over 4000 passengers on board ~ crazy!

When I booked the cruise I didn't book a balcony room because I knew Bryan and I wouldn't spend much time in the room. I did pick a room that overlooked the Promenade and it just so happens that particular room was the Ben & Jerry's "Sweet". Our room sat on top of the Ben & Jerry's and out of our window we could see the cows that sat on top of their store awning. So maybe some people would complain about the cows blocking some of their view, but not us. Why...well our room came with free visits to the Ben & Jerry's plus access to the concierge lounge that got us access to free beverages.
"SWEET" indeed.

And yes, it was tastefully decorated in a cow theme.

First night we booked dinner at Chops Steak House to celebrate my birthday. I took about 3 bites of my steak and that was it. I was filling so ill from the boat (happens to me every time) I couldn't eat. The hubs was sweet and understanding so we called it a night rather early because I felt awful!

Our first stop was at Royal Caribbeans island in the Bahamas called Coco Cay. It was a really small island, but very nice with lots of fun things to do. Since we were in the "Sweet", we had access to the private portion of the island. Bryan and I reserved some cabinettes for the day and it was marvelous. Marvelous as in it was QUIET and kid free. It was beautiful weather, a beautiful view and just an overall relaxing day.

The island ~ Coco Cay.
Not pictured, but Celebrity and Norwegian also have islands that you could see in the distance by looking left.

Our cabinettes for the day.

We thought the kids would think a picture of Bryan holding the boat up would be cool.
They were very impressed. Are you?

Parked in our loungers...all day. It was so fabulous.

My view for the day.

One of my favorite things to do...layout and listen to my iPod.
Bliss.

My view looking up from the lounger.

Formal Night - we had the lobster and it was delicious!

Sipping on free drinks in the concierge lounge.

Same night...different outfit.
I insisted on wearing two outfits a night. :)

That is me on the floor in a huge pile of ladies.
I'll explain.
Bryan and I participated in the Battle of the Sexes game. He was one of the 6 guys and I was one of the 6 ladies that participated. First game was to see who could blow up the most balloons and stuff them in the shirt of another team mate in one minute (shirt provided). Girls won! Next game was one person blows the balloon, one person ties it and one person runs it to another person that has to pop the balloon. Who can get the most in a minute...the girls. The 3rd game threw me for a loop, but I went with it. We had to get a key chain (provided) down the dance floor and drop it in a small cocktail sized cup...no hands...you could only use your, ahem...butt. Yep, you read that correctly. It was actually really funny. I was the last girl to get the key chain in the cup for - you guessed it, the win. Last game was to get as many ladies/guys to touch the large diamond shape in the center of the floor. Hence why I am on the floor. My foot was shoved up in between the legs of other ladies. Let's just say that I'm glad the lady in black did not fall because she was a bit larger than me and I don't think I would have fared well. ;) In the end, the girls won that game too so that would be girls 4, guys 0.
We skunked them!
We came away with a free bingo card and of course...our key chain.

This picture cracks me up...

Me doing a Baywatch run...it wasn't pretty.

Elephant Towel

Next up was a day at sea. We spent it parked in one spot for most of the day. We read, listened to music and people watched. Amazing people watching...simply amazing.

Monkey Towel ~ and a Dawg fan at that. ;)

Next stop was in Falmouth, Jamaica. Bryan and I love Jamaica and have been there twice before. We opted not to go on any excursions because the ones we really liked were like 6 and 7 hours long. We didn't want to commit to that much time so we decided to do a little shopping in Falmouth and then back on the boat it was for us. Jamaica was beautiful as usual and the temperature was hot...mon. Once we were back on the boat we found the perfect loungers at the quiet pool and spent the rest of the day there which was nice because no one was on the boat.

The only picture we took of us in Jamaica...taken by a local.

One of the excursions - a pirate show on a pirate boat.
We know a cute boy would think this is pretty awesome.

Pirates sword fighting. Bryce would have loved this. :)

Trying to take photos to show the kids exactly how big the boat was...all 14 levels.

Thanksgiving Turkey Towel

Our last day was spent at sea and it was rather windy. It started out sunny and then around the time we went to have lunch it was pretty obvious it was going to rain since we could see it in the distance. Sure enough during lunch the rain came so we headed back to the room for a nice nap. We had daily naps...heaven. :) After naps the sun was back and we ended up lounging around the pool until the sun went down. Bryan even got to watch some football on the big movie screen while we lounged.

We had a pretty fantastic time, but we are glad to be home with our kiddos. I am happy to say it was a good call on the 5 day verses the 7 day. We definitely enjoyed ourselves and enjoyed the break from parenting, but by our last day we were very ready to come home and see the kids. We also made the decision that cruising with the kids is not something we want to do for a few more years. I can thank all the families on board for helping make that decision. :)

Bryan and I are refreshed, recharged and ready to head into the holidays.
I'm so excited...I love this time of year!

And So It Begins...

2011-11-15T07:09:00.011-05:00

The holiday season is here which is pretty hard to believe.

Christmas officially kicked off for the Jones Family yesterday with our annual trip to see good old St. Nick. I know it seems a bit early for a Santa visit, but with our crazy schedule we fit things in when we can. With that said, my main reason for the early visit is I have it in my head that the earlier you go, the less germy Santa is. The bonus...no line to wait in!!

The kids were so excited and were all smiles.
Here is the photo that Santa's helpers took.

Doesn't Santa look nice and germ free. ;)

While Santa's people took photos I was firing off my own shots. I couldn't use my flash since it would interfere with Santa's camera so I cranked up the ISO and hoped for the best.
I took 83 photos and about 20 of them are cute...success!Who's naughty and who's nice?
You decide.

Santa asking them if they have been good.

Jordyn's up.
She asked for a Nintendo DS and walkie-talkies.
Bryan asked her why she asked for walkie-talkies.
She said "so I can talk to Sydney when she is far away".
Love these kids!

Sydney's turn.
She narrowed her very long list of wants down to 2 items as requested.
She asked for a Nintendo DS and a guitar.

And finally to Bryce.
He asked for a guitar and race cars (shocking).
A guitar?? Let's hope he likes drums...just sayin. ;)

After Santa we treated the kids to Cracker Barrel before heading home.
Guess who was waiting for us when we walked in the door??

It's our elf...Buddy!! (I know, super original name.)
The kids were thrilled to see Buddy again.

I'm seriously considering have Buddy make random trips to the house throughout the year because we had ourselves 3 precious angle babies last night. The manners were flowing, the tone in which one would talk to a siblings was pleasant, smiles were present during homework time and we could have asked those kids to do pretty much ANYTHING and they would have done it with enthusiasm.

Refreshing ourselves on Buddy and his rules.

Listening intently.

Big shout out to the creators of Elf On A Shelf. The magic works!

Yep, the holidays are gearing up and I couldn't be happier.
I LOVE this time of year!!

~ Ready To Pop ~

2011-11-06T19:36:00.010-05:00

My dear friend Amber is just that.

She is "ready to pop" with a baby girl.
Isn't she beautiful?!

Parents~to~be!

Actually she has about 12 more weeks of cooking to do, but little baby seems to think she can make a much earlier appearance. Amber is currently on bed rest in hopes of keeping her little lady cooking longer. A doc appointment on Tuesday will determine if Amber will remain on bed rest.
Keep her in your prayers for sure. :)
Casey, Lindsay and I threw a baby shower for Amber and Eric this weekend. The theme was "Ready To Pop" and it turned out really cute. Amber and Eric have had quite the journey in becoming parents so it was a very exciting evening for everyone. The parents-to-be loaded up on loot for Baby Girl Lynn which all parenting pro's know is a HUGE help! I can't wait for little baby to arrive so they can break in all their new gear. Plus I can't wait to get this little baby in my arms. I guess I'll share her with her mom and dad...a little. ;)
LOVE these girls so much.

Amber and Eric...I love you guys!!!
Can't wait for you meet your daughter and experience the awesomeness of being a parent!!

Boo

2011-11-01T21:15:00.006-04:00

Can you believe it's November already?
I can't.
With how fast things usually go from now until the end of the year you can pretty much put a fork in 2011!

I'm too tired to go into details of our Halloween evening. The Mullinax and Grundy families joined us for Trick-or-Treating. The kids had a blast together and now our house has entirely too much candy!

Three kids + 3 buckets = a whole slew of candy.

A little slide show for your viewing pleasure.
It's faster than uploading a million photos!

Want A Good Laugh?

2011-10-31T09:46:00.006-04:00

Taking family photos is one of my least favorite things to do, hence why we usually do it only once per year for our Christmas cards. It's stressful to say the least and I dislike it very very VERY much. It's near impossible to get a perfect family shot with all of us looking at the camera while smiling, so over the years I have learned to keep my expectations of the outcome pretty low.

Our first attempt at photos was a bust. We were dressed and ready to go, but Jordyn had a tummy ache and the weather wasn't cooperating so we canceled. The second attempt...not so great. BRIGHT sunshine in the face and hot temperatures made for grumpy kids. Looking through the 420 pictures we took (not ONE is usable) I found the below string of photos. Bryan and I sat and laughed at these forever.

This is a perfect showing of how our family photos go...

Explaining to the kids we are going to count to 3 and jump...
all while looking at the camera and smiling.

As you can see Bryce already has other ideas...

Smile? No way, taking my sister down is way more fun...

"Gotcha!!"

Keep an eye on Jordyn...

Here is comes...

The face says it all...

Attempt three happened this weekend.
Pictures aren't perfect, but promising!

back to Back to BACK

2011-10-30T13:03:00.010-04:00

That's just what the Lady Greyhounds volleyball team did.

Back to Back to Back state championship titles.

Or as they like to call it..

A 3-Peat!!

How kick butt is that??

Not one or two, but THREE back to back state championship titles.
Congrats to the seriously cute coach, also known as my seriously cute husband and his fabulous team of girls.

High fives all around for reals. So proud of you all.

Bryan doing his thing during a time-out.
An action shot...just a few plays before they won.
Coach
A little blurry, but the girls doing the celebratory "pile up" after the winning point.
Another team shot.
Bryan, Dave (assistant coach) and the SEVEN seniors.
Three of these ladies are going to play NCAA Division 1 volley ball at college next year. Two of the girls had colleges talking to them after the match last night!
Just awesome!
The sign that awaited Bryan from the kids when we got home last night after making the rounds to celebrate.

*****

In other weekend news Sydney's soccer game was cancelled due to the fields being too wet. No game meant we had time to finally carve our pumpkins. We spent Saturday morning getting our pumpkins ready for Halloween. It was a nice relaxing family morning, which I think Bryan needed before heading out to coach that afternoon.

Love Bryce's face...
Sydney's pumpkin: A cat-bat
Bryan and Jordyn's pumpkin: A spooky face. Kindof. ;)

Bryan and I: Disco ball pumpkin. To get the full effect you must see it lit up.

Weekend Wonders

2011-10-25T08:11:00.011-04:00

Of course our weekend went by way too fast.
They always do.
This past weekend was full of soccer, pumpkin patches, volleyball, a birthday party, church and a much needed date night.
A few pics for you viewing pleasure.
Just after a "header"...the first of two in the game!
You should see the smile on her face after she hits that ball with her head. :)

We took home 3 pumpkins...one for each of our little punkins. (I had to do it!)
Now we just have to find time this week to carve them.
HA!!

In volleyball news...
Bryan's team, Pope Greyhounds made it to the Final Four. They play on Wednesday night. If things go well on Wednesday they will be playing for their 3rd State title...in a row.
Let's go Greyhounds!!

~ Cheers to TEN Years ~

2011-10-20T07:10:00.000-04:00

I want to wish my husband a Happy Anniversary!!

We are celebrating 10 years of marriage today. We don't have anything spectacular planned for our day; however, come November 21st (just so happens to be my birthday also) we will be cruising the high seas together to celebrate this momentous occasion...sans kids!! The past few months have been a little busy so we are beyond excited about our vacation together.

I could get really gushy and talk about how much I love my husband and how my life wouldn't be the same without him. I could go on about how he is my very favorite person ever and without him I wouldn't be a wife nor would I get to be the mother of our three really awesome kids. I could tell you that he is my voice of reason when I'm angry or how he can annoy the snot out of me when I'm in a bad mood until I smile. I could tell you that I think he is the most attractive when he is being silly and crazy with the kids. I could talk about how he works hard to provide for our family and will give up his own wants for us to have something. I could tell you that he is literally one of the best people I know: very caring, extremely level headed and fair, always positive and supportive. He is an amazing father, a loyal, attentive and loving husband and most importantly he is man of God. I'm so completely blessed to have him walking beside me through life.

I could say stuff like that, but who wants to hear all that gushy stuff?
Instead take a peek at this video that shows a glimpse of how we got to where we are now.

I really hope this video works.
Click on it and it should take you to my Picasa web albums.
Let me know if it doesn't work and I'll figure something else out.

Married for 10 years and happier than ever.

Exciting News!

2011-10-19T13:31:00.007-04:00

Just wanted to share the below article with family and friends who aren't on Facebook. Very exciting news! "Our miracle drug" has an application for FDA approval! This drug targets one of the defective gene mutations Bryce has, G551D. Only 3 to 4% of the CF population has this mutation...that's about 1200 people...and our little guy is one of them. This could be life changing news for Bryce. Can you hear me doing the happy dance? It goes without saying that medications like this are possible because of donations made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Hence why each year I bug all of you to donate any amount to our Great Strides team. This type of information goes to show you that WE are making a difference and Bryce is going to be living proof!

Vertex Submits Application for Priority Review and Approval of KALYDECO™ (VX-770, ivacaftor) in the U.S. as First Potential Medicine to Target the Underlying Cause of Cystic Fibrosis

-- Accelerated assessment of KALYDECO granted by the European Medicines Agency; MAA submission planned in EU by the end of October --

-- Phase 3 registration studies of KALYDECO showed significant improvements in lung function and other measures of disease among a subset of people with CF --

October 19, 2011 08:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) today announced the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for KALYDECO™ (VX-770, ivacaftor), a medicine in development that targets the defective protein that causes cystic fibrosis (CF). KALYDECO (kuh-LYE-deh-koh) was studied among people with CF ages 6 and older who have at least one copy of the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. In the United States, approximately 4 percent of people with CF are estimated to have at least one copy of the G551D mutation in the CFTR gene.

“KALYDECO represents a completely new approach to the treatment of CF by targeting the underlying cause of the disease”

Global Phase 3 pivotal studies of KALYDECO showed significant and sustained improvements in lung function and other measures of disease in people with CF who had at least one copy of the G551D mutation. The majority of adverse events associated with KALYDECO were mild to moderate in severity and non-serious. Fewer people in the KALYDECO treatment groups than in the placebo groups discontinued treatment due to adverse events. If approved, KALYDECO will be the first treatment to target the underlying cause of CF.

The U.S. submission includes a request for Priority Review, which, if granted, would shorten the FDA’s anticipated review time from 10 to six months. The FDA grants Priority Review status for several reasons, including if the medicine is considered a major advance in treatment. Vertex also plans to submit a marketing authorization application (MAA) for KALYDECO with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) by the end of October 2011. The EMA has accepted Vertex’s request for accelerated assessment, which is granted to new medicines of major public health interest and shortens the review time from 210 days to 150 days following the start of the review. Additionally, Vertex submitted requests to the FDA and EMA to use the trade name KALYDECO (ivacaftor) for VX-770.

“KALYDECO represents a completely new approach to the treatment of CF by targeting the underlying cause of the disease,” said Matthew Emmens, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertex. “This is our second new drug application in less than a year, which is a significant achievement and underscores our commitment to developing new medicines for people with serious diseases.”

“The CF Foundation is thrilled that our collaboration with Vertex has contributed to an important potential new medicine for the treatment of some people with CF,” said Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., President and CEO of the CF Foundation. “The results of the KALYDECO studies have opened the door to a new way of treating CF and we hope that this approach will lead to the development of other targeted medicines for all people with this disease.”

CF is a life-threatening genetic disease that is caused by mutations in the CFTR gene that result in defective or missing CFTR proteins. The absence of functional CFTR proteins results in poor flow of salt and water across cell membranes in a number of organs, including the lungs. This leads to the buildup of abnormally thick, sticky mucus that can cause chronic lung infections and progressive lung damage. Currently available medicines have helped improve treatment and care for people living with CF by treating the symptoms and some of the complications of the disease.

Various mutations in the CFTR gene lead to CF. In some people, CFTR proteins are present at the cell surface but do not function properly. This dysfunction is known as a gating defect, the most common of which is the G551D mutation. Approximately 4 percent of those with CF, or about 1,200 people in the United States, are believed to have the G551D mutation. KALYDECO is designed to keep the CFTR channels at the cell surface open longer to improve the transport of chloride ions across the cell membrane in people who have gating mutations. KALYDECO has been studied in people with CF ages 6 and older who carry at least one copy of the G551D mutation.

“These regulatory applications are a reflection Vertex’s 13-year research and development effort and the commitment of hundreds of doctors, nurses, patients and their caregivers who participated in the studies of KALYDECO,” said Peter Mueller, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Research and Development at Vertex. “We look forward to working with U.S. and European regulatory agencies to make KALYDECO available as quickly as possible.”

Highlights of the KALYDECO Phase 3 Registration Program

These regulatory submissions are supported by results from two Phase 3 studies, STRIVE and ENVISION, in which people with CF who had at least one copy of the G551D mutation and were treated with KALYDECO experienced rapid, significant and sustained improvements across a variety of disease measures, including lung function. These data support the hypothesis that treating the underlying cause of CF may improve outcomes for people with the disease. A Phase 2 study, DISCOVER, was conducted in people who had two copies of the F508del mutation, the most common CFTR mutation, and provided additional safety information to support the regulatory applications for KALYDECO.

Overview of KALYDECO Discovery and Development Effort

KALYDECO was discovered as part of a collaboration with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT), the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the CF Foundation, to discover and develop novel CFTR modulators.

Expanded Access Programs for KALYDECO

In recognition of the immediate needs of some people with CF, an expanded access program for KALYDECO is currently open at participating clinical trial sites in the United States. This program is designed to provide KALYDECO to people ages 6 and older who have at least one copy of the G551D mutation, are in critical medical need and may benefit from treatment prior to potential FDA approval in the United States.

Vertex is working toward implementing additional expanded access programs in other countries, with a goal of opening programs for eligible patients by the end of 2011.

For more information, please call Vertex Medical Information at 1-877-634-VRTX (8789).

About Cystic Fibrosis

CF is a life-threatening genetic disease affecting approximately 30,000 people in the United States and 70,000 people worldwide. Today, the median predicted age of survival for a person with CF is approximately 38 years. According to the 2010 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Patient Registry Annual Data Report, approximately 4 percent of the total CF patient population in the United States have at least one copy of the G551D mutation, 48 percent of the total CF patient population in the United States have two copies of the F508del mutation and an additional 40 percent of the total CF patient population have one copy of the F508del mutation.

Collaborative History with Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT)

Vertex initiated its CF research program in 1998 as part of a collaboration with CFFT, the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. From 2000 through 2006, Vertex and CFFT amended and expanded the collaboration four times to support the accelerated discovery and development of KALYDECO and VX-809. VX-809, known as a CFTR corrector, is designed to help the protein reach the cell surface, while KALYDECO, known as a CFTR potentiator, aims to help the protein function more normally once it reaches the cell surface.

In April 2011, Vertex and CFFT further expanded the collaboration to support development activities for VX-661, Vertex's second corrector to enter clinical development, and the discovery and development of next-generation correctors.

About the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the world's leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis. The Foundation funds more CF research than any other organization and nearly every CF drug available today was made possible because of Foundation support. Based in Bethesda, Md., the Foundation also supports and accredits a national care center network that has been recognized by the National Institutes of Health as a model of care for a chronic disease. The CF Foundation is a donor-supported nonprofit organization. For more information, visit www.cff.org.

About Vertex

Vertex creates new possibilities in medicine. Our team discovers, develops and commercializes innovative therapies so people with serious diseases can lead better lives.

Vertex scientists and our collaborators are working on new medicines to cure or significantly advance the treatment of hepatitis C, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy and other life-threatening diseases.

Founded more than 20 years ago in Cambridge, MA, we now have ongoing worldwide research programs and sites in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Today, Vertex has more than 1,900 employees around the world, and Science magazine named Vertex number one on its 2011 list of Top Employers in the life sciences.

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding (i) the plan to submit the registration process for KALYDECO with the EMA by the end of October 2011; (ii) the expectation that, if approved, KALYDECO will be the first treatment to target the underlying cause of CF; (iii) the possibility that the FDA review period for KALYDECO could be shortened from ten to six months; (iv) Vertex’s commitment to developing new medicines for people with serious diseases; (v) the possibility that other targeted medicines could be developed for all people with this disease; (vi) Vertex looking forward to working with U.S. and European regulatory agencies to make KALYDECO available as quickly as possible and (vii) the hypothesis that treating the underlying cause of CF may improve outcomes for people with CF. While the company believes the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are accurate, there are a number of factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that Vertex could experience unforeseen delays in obtaining approval to market KALYDECO; that future outcomes from clinical trials of KALYDECO may not be favorable; that future scientific, clinical, competitive or other market factors may adversely affect the potential for KALYDECO and the other risks listed under Risk Factors in Vertex's annual report and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through Vertex's website at www.vrtx.com. Vertex disclaims any obligation to update the information contained in this press release as new information becomes available.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5...SIX!!

2011-10-17T07:29:00.012-04:00

Jordyn Brooke is SIX years old today.

SIX.

I'm not sure if I say this enough, but how do we get here so fast year after year? Each of these special days called birthdays just come faster and faster. It's driving this mommy crazy!! At times I feel like I can't soak up moments fast enough. Thank the good Lord for cameras and the thousands of pictures we have taken over the years. I broke out some of Jordyn's baby photos for her viewing pleasure at breakfast this morning, which she loved.

Miss Jordyn is usually a slow riser, but not today. She popped out of bed with a huge smile on her face. She was just waiting for me to say, "Happy birthday big six year old". She walked around the house all morning with the biggest smile on her face. Anything that came out of her mouth was followed by a giggle. I just love it. She was a bit confused as to why she didn't have any gifts waiting for her this morning. I told her she already had her birthday party so she opened all of her presents. That was not a good enough explanation because she wanted to know where her presents were from mommy and daddy. She's no dummy! I'm keeping her in suspense until tonight when we can all be together for the opening present fun. ;)

Since today is a full day of school, volleyball and soccer it will leave little time for birthday celebrations so we took her to birthday dinner last night at Dave & Buster's as requested. Actually she said she had 3 choices: McDonald's, Taco Bell or Dave & Buster's. The first 2 were not even considerations!

Her loot!

Once we get home from our busy Monday schedule we will bring out her birthday gifts...a few Rapunzel toys from the movie Tangled. Can I just tell you how happy it makes me that baby girl still loves dolls, dress up and stuffed animals. I am in no hurry for her to grow up!!

24 hours old and wide awake!

Age 6 months:
Naked Tushy Pictures

Age 1:
Birthday Girl!!

Age 2:
Sports Party aka Georgia Bulldogs Party

Age 3:
Monkey Party

Age 4:
Dress Up Party

Age 5:
Cowgirl Party

Age 6:
Art Party

Our beautiful birthday girl.

We are so proud of you and love you so much Jordyn!!!

Art + Party = FUN!

2011-10-16T16:14:00.005-04:00

Jordyn's birthday party came and went. Her theme this year...an Art Party. It was a blast. I'm not sure who had more fun...the kids or me because I thoroughly enjoyed the preparations that went into this party. There are WAY too many cute ideas that go along with an art party. I had originally called one of those paint your own canvas places only to find that a party would cost me $250.00 for 10 kids. That's it. No food, no cake...nothing. For the same amount of money I did my own party with 15 kids, a whole lot of adults, food, cake, decorations, a ton of art supplies, a large home-made easel, smocks and goodie bags. A whole lot more bang for my buck so a win ~ win for all! If you are looking for a party theme that appeals to boys and girls an art party is a must. The kids had so much fun painting. Some took longer to paint than others so once the kids finished painting they ate and did typical kid stuff in the cul-de-sac like riding scooters and playing chase.

Each birthday party that comes and goes is always so bittersweet. I adore watching my children grow and reach new milestones, but I sure do hate that time is flying by so fast. My baby girl is turning 6 tomorrow so today I secretly am soaking up every last minute of her 5th year.

Enjoy the party pictures!!

Bye Bye Baby...

2011-10-10T10:45:00.006-04:00

On Friday I walked into the barber shop with my baby boy.

I walked out with my little man.

I finally caved and had Bryce's hair cut.
I do love his curls, but I am LOVING his new do. I had the barber cut it so we could faux-hawk it when in rock star mode...which is like all the time! I didn't even tell Bryan I was going to cut it. Bryan has been begging me to cut his hair so it was a bit of a surprise for daddy.

We were supposed to have family photos taken on Sunday so hence my decision to cut his curls. Of course, our photos were canceled because Jordyn was having a really bad stomach ache. We will try again this coming weekend.
Fingers crossed!

It's not Fall...

2011-10-09T22:05:00.010-04:00

*Our fair visit was on 9/28/11. Better late than never on this post.

...Until we go to the North Georgia State Fair. You know, the place where Georgia's finest come out to have themselves real good time. I don't know what it is about the fair, but the the people watching is prime. Bryan couldn't join us because he was coaching volleyball; however, my mom and my dad met us there. It was really nice having them there because they were a great help in keeping an eye on the kids. (THANK YOU!!!) I think we wore my dad out because he pooped out on us after dinner. Of course, he kept up with Bryce the most so that alone will wear anyone out!

My favorite part of our trip each year is watching my babies have fun on some of the SAME rides I rode as a kid. This trip was especially great because Bryce is starting to "get it". He was totally pumped about everything and wanted to ride everything. He was very very upset that he could not ride the big rocking Pirate Ship with his sisters as the man running the ride told him he was too small. I wish I had camera rolling because he looked at that man with a very distraught face and yelled at him, "I'm NOT too small". He was so mad!! I had to reassure him he was not too small; only too young. I told him you have to be 5-years-old to ride the Pirate Ship. My explanation seemed to do the trick and his smiled returned in no time.

The girls had a blast as well. Jordyn decided right off the bat that she wanted to ride the new swing ride. I was shocked she wanted to try it because it went up really high off the ground, but girlfriend LOVED it. It took Sydney the entire visit to build up the courage to get on the swings. Finally just before we left she decided she was ready for the swings. Once the ride started you could see her fear melt away. By the end of the ride she had her hands held high..."Look mom! No hands!"

Another fun filled trip to the fair under our belts. We can officially say it's Fall!

Snip.

2011-09-27T16:59:00.007-04:00

Sydney has been asking for a few weeks now to get her hair cut. I don't know why I have been dragging my heels on this because she looks adorable with short hair. I think my reason is because I love how her hair looks braided. All the different blonde colors intertwined with each other is so pretty. I also like her hair pulled back for soccer.

With that said...it's not my hair so I gave in today. She hopped in the car after school and begged for a hair cut. Of course I said, "No" secretly knowing I was headed straight for Great Clips.

When we pulled in the parking lot she was thrilled to say the least...
letting out an enthusiastic YES! ;)

I forgot that Bryce didn't have shoes on so I sat in the car with Bryce and Jordyn so they could watch a movie while Sydney was getting her cut. Next thing I know my little lady was waving at me from the door to come check her out her new do.

So proud of my beautiful little lady.

Notes and Letters

2011-09-23T14:43:00.009-04:00

Do you remember when I blogged about the club Sydney was starting? If not, click here. Well, now that Bryce is older he was invited to join her club.

I don't think things are so well for him and the club.
Yesterday I found this on my bed.

Uh oh. A disoplen note.
Never a good sign.

Upon opening the note I found that Bryce has not been a very good club member. The note reads (I left the spelling intact because...well...it's awesome):

"Bad Note Bryce...He has got in sooo much trouble. He has stolen thing as in taking. He has yelled at me. He has hit pepole. Not lisining. Has don nothing on his paper when I tell him to. Plese take care of this poroblem. P.S. He has don more then that but those are the main tings that he has ben doing!!!!!!!! Sine here for your word __________________________________"

Like I said, not good.

I'm going to have to talk to Bryce about his behavior at club before I can give my word though. I mean let's face it, the changes of him getting another note sent home from club is pretty high.

***

On to letters!

My latest home project. Okay, actually my only home project in say the past year, but that is beside the point.

The hallway leading into Bryce's room is very narrow, short and not well lit. I had some outdated photos of the girls hanging in that hallway and I've been thinking for years now I need to either replace the pictures or come up with something else to put there. After seeing a super cute picture of an alphabet wall online I decided to take the pictures down and do an alphabet wall. The entire project cost me $65.00 which I think is a pretty good deal considering it take up an entire wall. I had some of the letters to start with and then good old Hobby Lobby helped in getting the rest. Let's just say their 50% off wall decor came in pretty handy. Some of the letters I painted myself while some are just how I bought them. I finally talked my sweet husband into hanging the letters for me and this is the outcome...

It was hard to get a good picture because of how narrow the hall is and the angle of the connecting hall, but you get the idea.

I love it!

In The Zoo

2011-09-21T07:05:00.011-04:00

The girls are on Fall Break this week so on Monday we headed to the Atlanta Zoo to break in our zoo pass. We have had it since May, but have yet to use it because it's just been too hot to roam the zoo. My dad and cousin Lexi joined us on the trip and we had a fantastic time. Much to our delight the zoo was pretty empty. The kids never had to wait or shimmy through crowds to see any of the exhibits. The weather was pretty much perfect and the animals were all very active. Well...except for the lions, but what do you expect from lions?!

There is another cub creeping up to pounce on momma. So cute!

The little baby was playing shy and wouldn't venture away from mommy.

This guy (or gal?) was a ham. Sat right in front of us and made funny faces.

Eating a snack.

I was hoping for a better picture of the new baby giraffe, Lilly, but she was far in the distance taking a break with her mommy.

Beauties.
Feeding the birds!
We had never fed the birds at the zoo. Thanks to Lexi for the suggestion.
Definitely a highlight of the day.

Weekend Wonders

2011-09-20T20:02:00.014-04:00

The weekend came and went...fast.

As usual we had ourselves a busy little weekend.

We spent a few hours at the Wildwood Baptist Community Fair that Bryce's preschool hosted. It was a fundraiser for the preschool so I wanted to be there to support the school. It's a fabulous little school, but in today's awesome economy the school has felt the pinch. Not only was the fair a success; it was a fun way to spend the first part of our Saturday together. We actually stayed longer than I expected because the kids were having so much fun. We played on the playground, jumped in the jumpy, tested our skills on the basket ball throw, the girls got their faces painted, did some dancing with the music and movement teacher, browsed all the cute vendors that participated, ate popcorn and baked goods and did a round of the cake walk. On top of all that several of our little friends were there which of course made for even more fun.

Sydney was pretty good at the basket ball toss...Bryce, not so much. ;)~

Not the best face painting, but it made the girls happy.

She requested a peace sign...of course.

Jordyn and Makenzie

Loving the swings!

If you look in the background you can see our friends Noah, Elijah and Hannah arriving!

Silly dancing!

****

The second part of our day was spent at the soccer field for a very tough but exciting game. The Fireballs only have 8 girls on the team and 6 girls are on the field at all times. Well...they had 2 players out of town for their game, which meant all 6 girls played the ENTIRE game with no subs. Not only did the girls play the entire game, but they played a pretty good team. Their opponents were a little bigger and was made up of some very skilled players. Our girls held there own and although they lost 4 to 1, they played with everything they had until the end. Needless to say they were all red-faced and out of breath by the time the game was over.

Going to get that ball!

Proud of my little soccer player.

Photos By Sydney

2011-09-20T15:00:00.006-04:00

I cleaned off Sydney's camera today and found that she had taken some really great photos. Here are a few from their trip to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. The park put out 3000 flags to commemorate the horrible events of September 11th. I was very impressed with Sydney's photography!!

Has to be like his sisters!

I spy the moon!

My favorite photo of them all.
Just fabulous!

Kick It!

2011-09-11T20:29:00.011-04:00

Soccer season is in full swing. Sydney had her first soccer game on Saturday. She is playing on a new team this year called the Fireballs. Who wouldn't want to be on a soccer team called the Fireballs? What a fun little name. Sydney moved up in age division so there have been a few adjustments for her to get used to.

The girls played awesome and started the season off with a victory (2 to 1). Sydney played her little heart out and gave it her all the entire game. She enjoyed playing the front defender position the most, but the girls do rotate around to each position. Last year she played with only 5 girls (goal keeper included) on the field and this year she now has 6 girls on the field. They games also have an actual referee verses the coaches running the games.

I just love watching Sydney play soccer. She has such intensity on the field and tries so hard. She is really coming around at learning how to communicate with the girls on the field. She didn't get any goals this game (came really close!), but she did have some good passes and an assist.

***

Bryce received a big treat this weekend.

It's no secret that Bryce loves cars. Especially fast cars that go by the names: Corvette, Camero and Mustang. My brother called us on Saturday afternoon saying that he was on his way over to the house with his friend who owns a Corvette. This wasn't just any Corvette...it was a Z06 with a super charger. This beautiful machine has 814 hp and it was LOUD. Bryce was loving it. My brother took Bryan for a ride. As they drove to exit the neighborhood I said a prayer of protection. I could hear them as they turned onto the main road from the house...and then all of a sudden you could hear the car take off. Bryan said that they were only in 3rd gear at going 95 mph. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I'm sure it was pretty awesome! When they came back (safe) they took Bryce for a ride through the neighborhood. He had the biggest grin on his face and literally has been talking about this Corvette ever since.

Bryan heading out for a ride.

Not going to lie...I wanted a ride, but I only wanted a ride if I could DRIVE. ;) There was no way I was going to let my brother drive me because I knew he would try to scare me. I didn't really want to get that feeling of, "I'm going to die" since he has done that to me before while riding in a car with him!!

***

Bryan and I went out to dinner on Saturday night with his sister and her husband (Amy and Jason). A little post birthday celebration for Bryan. I had every intention of taking a photo of us girls, but I completely forgot. We had such a nice time chatting that we didn't realize how late it had gotten. When my mom watches the kids on Saturdays we always try to get home no later than 10:00 because she gets up so early for church on Sundays. Well...we were still at the restaurant at 10:20. Woops!

Thanks for dinner and a fun evening Amy and Jason.

***

And here we are at the end of our weekend.

Here we are on September 11, 2011. At this time 10 years ago Bryan and I were in the final stretch of preparing for our wedding. It's crazy to think that it has been 10 years. When I watch the footage on TV or look at the photos plastered all over the Internet I am immediately sucked back in time to that day. It's still hard to believe that those horrific events actually happened.

Church this morning was awesome. Our pastor was what some Southern folks call "on fire". That means he was VERY passionate about the sermon he preached this morning. Our pastor is always passionate, but he was extra passionate this morning. Awesome message to start off the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. If you would like to watch a video of today's sermon click here. The video is not posted as of this moment, but it will be up soon. Warning...we do go to a Baptist church so our service is, dare I say...longer than an hour! ;)

***

In lighter news today...The Pope volleyball players held a fundraising car wash with proceeds going to Bryce's Helping Hands account. When Bryce was first diagnosed, not only were we trying to digest the news that our son has a chronic and progressive disease, but we were also digesting that it's an expensive disease (what disease isn't though!) even with our good insurance. This fund has been such a blessing for us. When I receive medical bills for Bryce I turn around and send them to Helping Hands who in turn pay the bill. Any donations made to Bryce's Helping Hands fund are tax deductible.

The Pope volleyball family have been so supportive of Bryce and the Cystic Fibrosis community from the day we got the diagnosis. And for that...we are so very grateful.

Bryce with one of the Sr. players, Katie.

Kids Say What...?

2011-09-04T09:07:00.006-04:00

I knew I was going to post a blog today;
however, the planned topic has been changed.

My plan was to write about the beginning of football season. As you guys know we are a DAWG loving family...but the opening game of the season did not have the result we were hoping for. It was an UGLY game.

U.G.L.Y. You ain't got not alibi, you ugly...you, you, you UGLY.

So, with that said we will not speak anymore of the
unfortunate outcome of last nights game.
No more.
Understand.

Instead I have a funny story involving who else...Bryce.

My dear friend Amber made the trek up to our house last night to hang out (I would say watch the game, but we are not speaking about the game). We were upstairs in our bedroom chatting while Bryce was doing his beat box. When he was finished, he walked over for a little help with taking off his vest. Since we were sitting on the floor he proceeded to get all up in Amber's personal space as he does with everyone. He asks Amber, "Hey. Where you been?". I'm assuming he asked her this because he hasn't seen her since his birthday party. I proceeded to tell Bryce that Amber has a baby living and growing in her tummy. She is a week shy of 20 weeks and has a nice little baby bump showing. He bends down and starts pushing on her belly to which I told him he could not press on her belly. He has a look of inquiry on his face so he stands up causing him to be face to face with Amber. He then starts to open her mouth with his hands...Amber graciously follows along because she is such a good sport.
Bryce looks into her mouth and yells,

"Hey. How's it going down there?".

There was silence for a moment as Amber and I register what just happened and then we started laughing hysterically.
In the midst of our laughter I said, "He thinks you ate a baby!".

These kids I tell ya...way too funny!

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

First and Last

2011-08-30T10:41:00.012-04:00

Bryce had his first day of preschool today. He is in the Apple Class and he couldn't be more excited about it. He is going to Wildwood Baptist Preschool, which is the same preschool the girls attended. He goes to school Tue - Thurs from 9:00 to 12:00. I was going to drop him off in the carpool line this morning, but wanted to walk him in just this morning to make sure the teachers had his enzyme information all straight. They seem very comfortable with all the information I have given them regarding his CF so I feel confident they will be enzyme pros in no time.

And let's not try to pretend I didn't want to walk him in so I could snap a few more pictures of him on this momentous occasion!!
It may be his first day of preschool, but it was the last day I will ever have a little one starting their VERY first day of preschool.

Sniff. Sniff.

It's was pretty strange being in the car alone after dropping him off. Heading into work all by my lonesome. Good thing I had Maisie (my niece) at work to entertain me. She kept giving me surprises for my desk (a stick, a stain sample and some rope).

Oh how I wish I could slow time...this parenting thing is moving way too fast!!

Here are a few pics of our boy on his big day. Enjoy!

Clearly thrilled about taking this picture.

He was so excited to see his little friend MaKenzie. She used to live next door to us so it will be nice to see her at school each week!

He was saying, "This my class right here mommy".

Hanging up his bag...and ready to start the day!

Apples and Cake

2011-08-27T07:41:00.022-04:00

Off to open house at Bryce's preschool we went yesterday. He was beyond excited. Literally the excitement was oozing out of his little body...you could feel it. Bryce is going to be in the "Apple" class this year. He was so excited to see his room that he literally had no time to greet his teachers who waited for the kids by the classroom door. He practically pushed passed them to get into the room.From there is was game on...he had to look at everything and touch everything in the room which included him wanting to get the fish OUT of the fish tank. His teacher asked him to color an apple for their apple tree, which held his attention for all of 20 seconds. He sat down long enough to scribble a few lines on his apple before he was up exploring the room again. They also had him help decorate his class t-shirt, which also lasted all of 20 seconds.
I'm not sure, but I THINK Bryce will keep these teachers on their toes!!

Compared to the other kids that were visiting the class he was by far the most outgoing. Most kids were hanging onto mom and dad; doing the shy thing. Not Bryce, he was walking up to everyone and talking about what cool things he had found in the classroom. This kid is not shy in the least and is very friendly.Open house would not have been complete without something happening to make for a good story.
Story goes like this...

Bryce was sitting at the game table playing a game, when a boy named "J" sat down to play. After a few seconds "J" decides he doesn't want his game or the other 3 games on the table; he wants the game Bryce has and proceeds to "ask" for it. Bryce ignores him at first. Since "J's" parents are standing by the table as well I asked Bryce if he would like to share the game. He immediately says, "No. I play this game by myself".
Awesome.
Not the answer I was hoping for.
So I asked him again and he gave the same answer, which did not go over well with "J" as he started throwing a fit full of crying and slamming his hands on the table. I'm thinking...oh great, now what do I do?! While the crying gets louder Bryce leans back in his chair, gives a little laugh and proceeds to say to "J's" father, "That boy is crying like a baby".

Yep.

It was one of THOSE moments. I controlled my desire to laugh because what Bryce said was very true. I was relieved when the dad laughed and repeated what Bryce had said to his wife, but still it made for an awkward moment. Technically Bryce was correct, the kid was crying like a baby because he didn't get his way; however, Bryce wasn't sharing. So I just simply looked at the parents and apologized while having Bryce clean up the game and then we called it a day.

I'm thinking this will not be the first story to come out of Bryce's first year of preschool!!

On to other news....

Guess who had a birthday yesterday??

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This guy right here...that's who.

I love how Bryce is looking at his daddy in this picture.

We celebrated Bryan's 36th birthday last night. We grilled pork chops and corn and had a side of broccoli casserole since it is one of Bryan's favorites. After dinner we topped the night off with some cookie cake! I had every intention of making a cake, but my day was much busier than expected. Since school started I have been so busy keeping up with our crazy schedule I hadn't even had the time to get Bryan a gift. After open house Bryce and I headed to the mall. Going to the mall with a 3-year-old is very time consuming...especially when you feed him lunch. I think it took us almost 2 hours to eat lunch, visit the Mickey Store (because he ate all his lunch) and then buy Bryan's gift (a fun pair of shoes).
By the time we finished at the mall it was time to get the girls from school.

In true Bryan form...always something silly to make the kids laugh.
Loving this picture.

Fabulous start to this weekend. I can't express how happy I am that it is the weekend. Some down time is just what this family needs. Starting next week our fall schedule will be running at full capacity through November. In the words of the Little Engine That Could...

I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.
I think I can keep up with everything!!

Have a great weekend party people!!

August Clinic 2011

2011-08-19T20:54:00.008-04:00

I'm a little late with this post because I spent the Friday gallivanting around town with my sweet baby boy. It was a mommy and son type of day.

Bryce had his clinic on Thursday (8/18/11). The girls ended up having a teacher workday so off I went to clinic with all THREE kids. I'm not going to even front that we were by far the loudest room on the hallway. Between random arguments that would break out and Bryce flying into the wall multiple times while riding on the stool that has wheels, we were very entertaining.

He wore his mask when he needed to with no complaints. He wanted to walk to triage "I do it by myself" so no hand holding with mommy. He sat very still and completely cooperated with the nurse in triage. She got all readings on the first try...that had NEVER happened before. My boy is growing up! Very proud of him.

Bryce weighed in at 33.8 lbs. His goal was 34 lbs so we were very close and they were very pleased. This helped boost his BMI to 86%!! This is the highest BMI he has had yet. Bryce is currently on Creon 6 so he is taking 4 to 5 enzymes with every meal and 3 with snacks. So, after we finish up our current supply we are moving to Creon 12 so he won't have to swallow as many pills for a while. Since the pill is double what he is on now, the amount of pills he swallows will be cut in half. His GI doc and nutritionist were thrilled with Bryce. His energy, his weight, the amount of fluids he drinks...oh and did I mention his energy?

Every single person who came into see commented on his energy. "Is he always this active?".

Umm, why yes, yes he is.

I do feel like he stepped it up at notch during our visit. This kid was literally climbing the walls. There was a ledge that connected to the window. He would climb up on the ledge, jump to the exam table and the jump OFF the exam table. Wild little man! I love it...working those lungs is how I see it. Bryce loves going to clinic to see his doctors so maybe that was why he was overly jazzed. Hopefully this positive attitude about clinic will continue over the years. I enjoy going to clinic too because I just love Bryce's CF team. They are AWESOME!

Entertaining themselves in-between visitors. There was a TV, but I didn't like the shows that were playing (more for "Tweens") and we could not get the channel to change so no TV watching for us.

His pulm doc said he looks good and sounds clear. He does have some congestion that started the day prior so she said to start up nasal rinses and Flonase again. I was doing the Flonase anyway, but the nasal rinses really help Bryce. He enjoys "getting the boogers out". I think Bryce is having a reaction to the ragweed like I am. I have been a sneezing, dripping mess for 2 days.

As we were packing up to leave his GI doc popped her head back in to say that on our next visit she is going to have his blood tested again because his liver levels were high. He had his blood work done at our May clinic. GI doc seems to think that this is a mistake because he shows no signs that would correlate with high liver levels. She said that if he had been super sick she would be more concerned and make us stay longer for blood work, but she felt testing in November would be okay. He will also have chest X-rays in November.

This ledge helped entertain Bryce all day.

So...other than some head congestion our boy is looking good once again. I can't tell you how happy this makes Bryan and I. All we do now is wait on those culture results. Fingers crossed for a clear culture so we can avoid those inhaled antibiotics. Now that school has started for the girls and Bryce starts soon...I really do not want to add any other treatments to our morning routine than what we already do.
Pray. Pray. Pray.

Our rock star!

YEAAA for another great clinic visit!!
Now for those clear culture results...

And then there was one...

2011-08-15T10:04:00.012-04:00

It's now just me and my boy at home.

The girls went off to start a new adventure.
Sydney started 3rd grade and Jordyn started Kindergarten.
I'm a little blue today. This is the first time in 8 years of being a mommy that I haven't had at least one of my girls with me. It's always hard to swallow that your kids will spend more time with other people than you during the week.

Our morning started off early. I got the girls up at 6:20. We dressed, brushed teeth and fixed hair while Bryce did his vest. After dressing the girls went down to enjoy a muffin filled breakfast. I told you I like to come up with excuses to make muffins and the first day of school is a justified excuse. We had pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips. I don't normally like pumpkin flavored stuff, but these are delicious. While Bryce was finishing up his breakfast the girls and I went outside for first day of school pictures.
I mean...you've GOT to have first day of school pictures.
And yes...I made them do some cheesy stuff.
I had too!

Aren't these uniforms adorable??

The knee socks were a must. I had to get them knee socks. Paired with their new multi-color checked Vans - they were taking those uniforms to the next level. Oh and the hair bows...I went out and got them fun hair bows too.

I told you I had to make them do some cheesy stuff. They will thank me one day when they look back on their childhood pictures.

My beauties...we got to this day WAY TOO FAST.

The drive to school was quick. It took about 15 minutes. There was no traffic going towards school other than a little wait at an Elementary school we pass on the way. The car pool drop off went VERY smooth considering it was the first day. I tell you...this school has really worked hard on making this all come together so well at the last minute. They have far exceeded my expectations.

For this first week of school the Kindergarten kids can be walked into the school starting at 9:00 am. School starts at 8:00, but for this week only they are letting parents walk their Kindergartners in at 9:00 to get them used to things. No parents were allowed to walk into the school this morning, which is why everything was running so smoothly I'm sure. Well...my Jordyn opted out of waiting until 9:00. She decided to go through the car pool line with Sydney and walk in like a big girl without her mommy.
Do you hear my heard breaking a little?
With that said I was so proud of her for being so brave and ready to take on this new adventure.

This was the only photo I could snap when they were being dropped off. They had the line moving quickly...I didn't even look into my camera for this photo. I just held it behind me and starting shooting. Not a bad pic if you ask me!! While they walked off I was being motioned to keep moving. It was about that time I started tearing up because I was sad, but so proud of my girls. As we were pulling out of the parking lot Bryce was upset that he wasn't staying at the school. He didn't understand why he couldn't go to school with the girls. By the time we got back onto the main road to head home I was just about to break down when my boy comes to the rescue.
He randomly says, "Mommy. You pretty".
Oh this boy!! He has never said that to me. His timing was perfect.
I couldn't help but dry up and smile.

My only complaint about this morning was the drive home. It was not nearly as quick as the drive there. Bells Ferry Road really backs up and moves slow. It took me 50 minutes to get home from dropping off. I don't know if Bells Ferry is like this everyone morning, but tomorrow I will try taking the highway back home. I think it will move much faster even with traffic. If Bryce had to be at preschool this morning we would have been late. Hopefully going another route home will be better.

Guess I'll find out tomorrow!

Meet & Greet

2011-08-13T12:46:00.015-04:00

We were up bright and early today for Meet & Greet at the girls new school. Jordyn's assigned time was 8:00 so yea...up very early on a Saturday morning. It takes a lot to get our crew ready so I woke up at 6:30. Something I learned this morning...I'm going to have to get up earlier than 6:30.

The girls were very quiet this morning. I think they were nervous. Since they will be wearing uniforms to school I let them wear what we had originally had picked out as first day of school outfits. I'm so happy they got to wear them for some sort of school function because I thought they were super cute. :)

The first person we saw when we arrived was Uncle Andy!! Some of you may not know this, but my brother-in-law will be teaching at the girls new school. He is a special education teacher and is pumped about this new teaching experience. He will be assisting grades 3 though 5. He has been very impressed with the school and how they operate, which makes me feel good as a parent. Andy has 15 years of experience so the fact that he is impressed is a good sign.

After getting the girls agenda book and car pool number we headed off to see Jordyn's classroom and meet her teacher. Jordyn's teacher is Ms. Ranieri and she is adorable. She is a first year teacher, but has several years experience teaching Pre-K. Jordyn's classroom is huge! It's decorated super cute and I love the fact that is has bathrooms and a sink IN the classroom. I think that is perfect for Kindergartners.

Jordyn's teacher had the kids find their names at their desk. Then they had a "Pick Me" stick to decorate and a scavenger hunt to complete. While Jordyn worked on her stuff Bryan and I had an "apple" to write out a wish for Jordyn that her teacher will read to her on the first day. How cute!! I was VERY impressed with Jordyn's teacher and how organized she was. Jordyn seemed to warm up to her right away and I think this will be a great start to her school career.

Sydney's class is literally right across the hall from Jordyn's class. Her teachers name is Mrs. Roberts. Syd's teacher seems to have a serious, but sincere demeanor, which is good since 3rd grade is no joke. I've been hearing for years from seasoned parents that 3rd grade is a tough year. I'm down with a serious teacher for a tough year. Sydney's room is HUGE. I am so impressed by the size of the classrooms in this school. Mrs. Roberts did not have many decorations up in her room because up until very recently her room was being used as the text book storage room. She basically just got her room so she hasn't really had a chance to get settled in there. We learned that Uncle Andy will be team teaching in Sydney's class for a few subjects since there are a few kids in her class that will need extra assistance. I don't think Sydney knows this information yet so we have to talk to her about keeping her love for Uncle Andy on the down low while at school. :) OH - and another fun thing...Sydney's class will walk over to Jordyn's class every once-in-a-while to help them with reading! Fun, fun, fun!!

After today's meet and greet I am so completely excited for the girls to attend this school. All of the teachers we encountered today were so helpful and kind. There was a positive energy flowing through the hallways of the school. The teachers are just as excited about this new experience as the parents and kids. I think this is going to be an amazing school and provide the girls with an amazing learning experience.

Stitches x 3!

2011-08-12T19:45:00.007-04:00

Today was eventful.

I thought it was going to be a relaxing last Pool Friday of the season. It did start out that way, but
shortly after lunch Bryce had a little run in with the outdoor swing.

The result...stitches!

Three of them to be exact.

This stitches experience was not as traumatic as his last experience. There was hardly any blood unlike the last time, which I think helped a lot. The gash was more deep than wide so it was almost like the blood was pooling up in the gash (sorry if that sounded gross). So, off I went with my brave boy to Children's Immediate Care. The girls stayed with my mom and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the pool with their friends. They start school on Monday so I wanted them to enjoy the pool while they could.
When I got to Children's there was a sign posted saying that there was a 90 to 120 minute wait.

Say what?

After signing in I requested that Bryce do his waiting in a private room because of his CF. Not sure if my fellow CF mom's do this, but even at the pediatrician I ask that we do our waiting in a private room in hopes of keeping Bryce away from other kids that may be sick. It also keeps him off and away from the toys set out for the kids to play with. When I see public toys out like that I visualize the germs swarming all over them!!
We waited for quite a while before they took us back to triage where he got his numbing cream to prep him for the stitches. I also found out at this time that Bryce weighed in at 33 lbs! He went up a little since last weeks well check-up, which puts us a little closer to our weight goal for next weeks clinic.
He looked funny with his "head band" on to help keep the cream pack in place. He was to keep the pack on and be still (ha. ha.) for 30 minutes. FINALLY after 45 minutes of waiting they brought us to an exam room where I was informed that they will probably be doing staples.

Again, Say what?

I can handle the stitches, but I can tell you right now there was no way I was going to be able to stay in that room and listen to the sound of stables going into my son's head. I'm pretty good about stuff with the kids, but that might be where I draw the line!! Thankfully the doctor changed her mind just before starting the procedure. She ended up going with the stitches that dissolve in 5 to 7 days. Whew!

I didn't get any pictures while they were stitching him up because I was holding down his legs. He also had his arms in a pillow case that when he was laid down, locked his arms in place. Almost like a little straight jacket. As soon as the doc started stitching he winced and brought his knees to his chest so my job was to hold his legs down. He gripped my hands tightly as they worked, but never once did he cry or say ouch. He was such a tough guy.
Of course he worked his charm and was making the doctor and nurse laugh with his constant talking. He is such a funny little dude.

Love him so much.

Photos by Sydney

2011-08-11T21:45:00.004-04:00

I uploaded all the photos off of Sydney's camera tonight.
There were some interesting photos to be found on her SD card.
I made a little slide show of her best photos.

Enjoy.

He's ready...and Happy Birthday!

2011-08-07T21:39:00.005-04:00

Today we reached a milestone.

To the average family this may seem trivial, but to us it was a big deal.

Today, Bryce went to his first Sunday school preschool class. I know...our boy is 3 and is JUST now making his debut in the preschool at our church, but up until earlier this year I had not received the okay from his CF docs to even register him for a weekday preschool class. Since his actual weekday preschool class starts in a few weeks we decided to let him try out his Sunday school class. We went back and forth with this decision all weekend, but decided to go for it as we pulled into the church parking lot this morning. Let me tell you...this kid was pumped about this new experience!

After talking with the preschool director and explaining a few things to her about Bryce (enzymes, hydration, hand washing, etc) they walked us to his class to introduce us to his teachers. I was delighted to learn that the couple in the classroom will be his regular Sunday school teachers for the remainder of the year. Everyone was very attentive as we explained a few things they will need to know while Bryce is in the class. I have a packet of medical information to fill out that the church will keep on file for him. Each Sunday he will have to sign in at the main preschool desk AND sign into his classroom. He also has to wear a medical alert sticker on his back. After introductions it was time for Bryan and I to head to service. I was very nervous leaving my boy, but he was not nervous in the least. He barely had time to give me a kiss goodbye...which by the way was on my leg because waiting for me to bend over to kiss him took too much time. He quickly walked through the classroom door and headed straight for a boy playing with some race cars.
He didn't even look back at me!
Sigh.
My baby = big boy
When we came back to pick Bryce up they were having snack. His teacher said, "Bryce, your mom and dad are here to pick you up". He turned around and looked at us with the biggest cracker filled smile on his face. Oh that smile...melts me like butta each and every time. ;) While he was cleaning up his snack mess, using the potty (all by himself!) and washing his hands one of his teachers said, "He sure is a rambunctious little guy (while smiling with big eyes)". Bryan and I started laughing and let her know that he is like that from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed.
(He just washed his hands, hence why his shirt is wet.)

After today I am convinced my boy is ready for school.
The question now: Am I ready for him to be in school?!
Tear.

In other exciting news:

My daddy celebrates his birthday this week so tonight we celebrated few days early with a birthday dinner and cake. Slurp. Happy Birthday Dad!

In no so exciting news:

My favorite hubby goes back to work tomorrow. School is back in for teachers and since it's volleyball season he has practice after school. Boohoo. I'm going to be sulking all week. Okay, who am I kidding. I will be sulking for at least the next 3 months.
We seriously need a lottery win so we can play summer all year long!

50 Days of Summer: Day 50

2011-08-03T22:13:00.003-04:00

And 50 Days of Summer comes to an end.

A fabulous summer with family and friends.

To end our 50 days of summer...
A montage of my favorite summer photos.

106 photos to be exact. Enjoy!

50 Days of Summer: Day 49

2011-08-02T22:32:00.006-04:00

This will be a boring post.

How's that for an opening.

I literally have nothing for ya. I can tell summer is coming to a close because my day has been busy with little fun thrown in. I've been working on all sorts of stuff all day and I'm exhausted. Transitioning from summer schedule to fall schedule usually kicks my butt for the first couple of weeks.

Bryce went for his 3 year check up today. Pediatrician says he looks great and his lungs sound fabulous. Always good news to hear. He is 32.8 lbs...not anywhere near his 34 lb weight goal for clinic on August 18th. I'm not too worried about this because he has gained some weight since our last clinic, but there is no way he is going to put on almost 2 lbs before the 18th. It is tricky getting this boy to gain weight. He is so active and usually has little time to eat as most boys and girls his age. As long as he is gaining and not losing...I'm a happy momma. He did get one shot today. He got his MMR vaccine and did not cry at all! I was impressed. I know it's really late for him to be getting the MMR, but I kept pushing it off and pushing it off and since he wasn't scheduled for a shot today I decided to let him get it. I bring him back in a month for the flu shot. Geez...that time again already!!

Hmm...let's see...I didn't take any photos of my cuties today because I was so busy all day so I'll leave you with a throw back summer pictures. I love going through old pictures!

50 Days of Summer: Day 48

2011-08-01T21:51:00.006-04:00

Well...today was much busier than I expected. I don't have anything exciting to report. We got the girls school uniforms today, which took a bit longer than I had planned, but I'm happy to have the task finished. I started organizing the 3 huge bins of clothes that I have ready for the upcoming consignment sale. I almost decided I just didn't have it in me to start the process, but the thought of an extra couple hundred bucks motivated me. ;)
Our room looks like a disaster currently.Bryan was back to volleyball today with the first day of tryouts. That officially means I am a volleyball widow for the next 3 months. Sniffle. Sniffle. In my dream world Bryan and I don't work and we get to have summer schedule all year round.
I'm not giving up hope that this will be a reality one day when our lottery numbers hit...which of course would require us to actually play the lottery. ;)

Since I didn't take any fun photos today here are photos of each of the kids from this time last year.
What a difference a year makes...Sydney checking out her desk at open house for 2nd grade.

Jordyn being Jordyn. Some things never change.

She is always wearing a dressy dress around the house.
My baby boy, who is so much bigger than this now. Tear.

50 Days of Summer: Day 47

2011-07-31T21:26:00.006-04:00

And July came and went...

Wow.

This summer has flown by. We had every intention of spending the day at the pool, but we ended up just hanging around the house and I must say it was really relaxing. We slept in, did a little cleaning and played outside. A chill family day to finish out July. Bryan starts volleyball tomorrow so the crazy hectic schedule is upon us. I still have 2 more weeks before the girls are back to school and 3 weeks until Bryce starts school. I am very happy about that. I know so many parents are ready to get the kiddos back in school, but I would much rather have my babies at home with me. I kind of live for our chaotic home life.
I just love it.

While the kids played outside I practiced photographing the kids in action. I wanted to practice some tips I read online on how to get clearer pictures while shooting moving "targets". The kids were good sports, but poor things wore out quickly because it was so hot.

Hiiii - yaaaa!!

Jumping and twisting - not too shabby.

Scooter jump....she is getting pretty good at those things!

Bryan put his big head in one of my shots.
The result...him looking like Jack Nicholson in the Shining.
Agree??
Kind of creeps me out.

Bye-Bye July!

50 Days of Summer: Day 46

2011-07-30T21:19:00.005-04:00

School starts for the girls in 2 weeks. We were all set on the girls attending school where Bryan teaches, Davis Elementary, but after getting an offer from the new Cherokee Charter Academy our plans have changed. A few weeks ago I went out and bought school supplies based on the list from Davis...well, today I had to go purchase more items to add to the stuff I already bought. The charter schools supply list had a few more items on it.

So...off we went today to purchase new book bags, lunch boxes and supplies. Can you say OUCH?? We put a dent in the old budget today filling in our missing supplies. Crazy enough...I didn't find all the items I needed so tomorrow I will make my way to the office supply store in hopes of getting the last few items.

People...school supplies ain't cheap these days!!

Jordyn's supplies - still need folders, primary composition notebooks and Kleenex.
Oh and "fat pencils". What the heck are "fat pencils"??
Anyone?

Sydney's supplies - still need a few folders and Kleenex.

Shoes would have been much more fun to shop for!

I can't believe how much money we dropped on school supplies so far. I thought I had done really well with my first round of shopping, but today's shopping blew my "budget" out of the water. And that was with me using coupons!! Come Monday we will be dropping a couple of bills on school uniforms too, but after the initial purchase we don't have to worry about buying school clothes for the rest of the year so I think we are saving a lot of money in the long run.
Hooray!

50 Days of Summer: Day 45

2011-07-29T19:47:00.007-04:00

Today we spent the day at the pool.

It is Friday after all.

We had a great turn out of friends for one of the last Pool Friday's of the season and of course I didn't take pictures.
Grr.
I was too busy running my mouth.

SHOCKING, I know!!

However, I did take pictures of the play that the kids put on for us this afternoon.

Sydney introducing everyone for the play.
Jordyn coming out to be introduced. They were pretending to be mermaids.

I would like to say for the record that Bryce was a merMAN and not a mermaid. ;)

The mermaids started to dance and also put on hats.
This play really flowed from one thing to the next. ;)

And as fast as the play started it ended.
Great job Sydney, Lexi, Jordyn and Bryce!

Taking photos with the cast of the play. We got autographs too.

Bravo!!

50 Days of Summer: Day 44

2011-07-28T19:42:00.000-04:00

You know your tired when...

You can sleep through your 30 minute beat box treatment.

Bryce was so tired last night that he conked out while doing his vest.
I guess it just "lulled" him right to sleep. :)

50 Days of Summer: Day 43

2011-07-27T19:46:00.005-04:00

This is nifty...

My dad...2-1/2 years old.

My youngest brother Jay - 2 years old.

Bryce a month shy of 3 years old.

Bryan as a little guy. Not sure of the age.

Bryce - his 3rd birthday.

Bryce is a perfect mix of Jones and Carter!

50 Days of Summer: Day 42

2011-07-26T16:16:00.004-04:00

Happy Tuesday!!

From your friendly neighborhood
Spider-Man.

50 Days of summer: Day 41

2011-07-25T18:55:00.009-04:00

So many events took place this past weekend that I didn't have a chance to share them all.

One of which events was a family bridal shower for Erica.

This is Erica!

Erica will be the newest Mrs. Whitlock come November.
She is adorable and is marrying Bryan's cousin, Ben.

The shower was held at a cute little tea house in historic downtown Woodstock called Tea Leaves and Thyme.
Everyone dressed in their best "High Tea" attire and adorned themselves with fabulous fascinators.

A beautiful shower for a beautiful bride.Welcome to the family Erica!
Looking forward to many more family gatherings with you!

50 Days of Summer: Day 40

2011-07-24T21:14:00.003-04:00

I got to spend my evening with some of my favorite people.

* No kids *

Casey, Erin, Amber, Me & Lindsay

Love these girls dearly ~ Friends since high school.

Oh Baby!!!

We don't get together nearly as often as we would like, but when we do the conversation is great and the laughs are plentiful.

Great way to end this fabulous weekend.

50 Days of Summer: Day 39

2011-07-23T20:20:00.006-04:00

Did you know that Pirates like to Parrrty?

Well they do...and I know of several little pirates that helped us celebrate Bryce's 3rd birthday. As usual we took over my mom's house for a fabulous pirate pool party.

I think that the pirate theme has been my favorite party theme so far. I had a blast decorating.

The weather was perfect...a little hot, but what else would you expect from Georgia in July. :) We had about 60 people join in the celebration. Majority of Bryan's family and mine live in Georgia so birthday parties tend to be a big event with us which I love. Any excuse to get our family and friends together!!

I took over 500 pictures. Here are just a "few".

Enjoy Matey!

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us.

We are blessed by each and everyone of you.

50 Days of Summer: Day 38

2011-07-22T07:55:00.000-04:00

Say it ain't so.

Today our boy turns THREE!!

We went from this...

Photo taken by Nina Shields

To this...

WAY TOO FAST!!

I am totally and madly in love with this little man.
I am completely fascinated with him.
Who knew having a boy would be so fun?!

The past three years have flown by.
There has not been a dull moment since he entered this world.
He is extremely outgoing and very entertaining.
He adores his sisters and they adore him too.
He completes our family perfectly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYCE CARTER!!

Daddy and Mommy love you (((THIS MUCH))).

Tomorrow we celebrate with family and friends
which means I'll have a slew of pictures to share!

50 Days of Summer: Day 37

2011-07-21T21:08:00.004-04:00

These toes can't wait to party!!
Lots of fun stuff happening all weekend.

And these little toes didn't want to miss out on a photo op, so they insisted on joining in.

HAPPY FEET AND HAPPY HEARTS!!

50 Days of Summer: Day 36

2011-07-20T15:25:00.002-04:00

Sydney got a really cool "make your own candy necklace" set for a birthday gift. Today she got to try it out and if you can believe it people, I even joined her. I have a million things that need to get finished this week, but spending one-on-one time with my girl was far more important. Jordyn was at a play date with Max and Bryce went to Home Depot with Bryan. Sydney and I had the house to ourselves and I must say...it was lovely spending time with my little lady. I don't think she stopped talking the entire time we worked. :)

Sydney made this necklace for me! Beautiful and delicious. :)

Just a few of the necklaces made today.

50 Days of Summer: Day 35

2011-07-19T20:39:00.015-04:00

Whew.

Today was a long day.

My day started at 6:20. I had to be at my dad's house bright and early this morning. I didn't know exactly how long it would take me to get there in morning traffic so I left the house around 6:40. Got to my dad's house in no time, which was nice because not only did I get to sit down and drink coffee with my dad, I got to see both of my brothers too.

Why was I at dad's house so early you ask? Well...he slipped over the weekend on his wet patio and broke his wrist. This morning I took him to a wrist specialist. The specialist put a cast on and sent us over to the hospital for a date with radiology. Apparently they know his wrist is broke, but they can not tell how bad because it seems he may have a bone chip stuck in the break. Umm...can you say ouch? Dad has been in a lot of pain since Saturday, but is feeling some relief now that he has the cast. He goes back to the wrist specialist on Thursday to discuss the results of his CT scan. It may be that he needs surgery. Boo. And the cherry on top of this whole unfortunate event is my dad's insurance kicks in on August 1st. Yea...double boo. My daddy is retired so his medicare is set to start in 11 days.

Can you believe this mess?! This could only happen to my dad. Seriously this type of stuff happens to him all the time. We will laugh about this one day right along with all the other crazy things that have randomly happened to him.

Dad's appointments took longer than expected, but it was great spending time one-on-one with him. I had every intention of taking a picture of his cast, but I forgot. So pretend there is a picture of a cast

Insert imaginary photo of dad's cast here. ;)

I came home to find the dog getting a bath. Thank goodness. I don't know if it's just our dog, but seriously...he has stinky dog syndrome (SDS). It's a real condition made up by me. Our Boss is spoiled and spends very little time outside. He goes out to potty and right back in. In a matter of a minute he can smell so bad it will burn your nose. So, I was delighted to find him having a bath today and as you can tell...he loved it. He looked as if he was going to fall asleep while standing up. He had that glazed over relaxed look.

Bryan had dog washing helpers too; however, they were better at getting themselves soaked than helping with the dog.

After dinner we decided to clock the distance from our house to the Cherokee Charter Academy. Why...well because our girls were accepted!! We got the phone call today. We had pretty much given up on the charter school because our lottery numbers were not picked way back in April. We looked into the charter school because Bryan is hoping to get into administration at some point over the next few years and the school our neighborhood feeds into is just so-so. We live in Cherokee, but since Bryan teaches in Cobb, Sydney is allowed to attend the school he teaches at. Bryan's school is an excellent school; however, if he goes into administration there is no guarantee what area of Cobb he will be placed in. Just like any county there are some areas that have "better" schools than others. At any rate we have until tomorrow at 5:00 to decide if we want to accept the offer from the charter school. At this point...we are leaning towards it, but the draw back is there will be some serious driving on my part daily.
We ended this grand day with ice cream. Bryce got a free birthday ice cream coupon emailed to me and I had a BOGO coupon on top of that so getting ice cream tonight was a no brainer. Bryce was so cute handing the girl at the counter and telling her all by himself what flavor he wanted. He choose mint chocolate chip. He ate every last bite of it too.

The kids are now in bed and I think I'm right behind them once I finish this sentence. ;)

Nighty night.

50 Days of Summer: Day 34

2011-07-18T22:43:00.002-04:00

Summer Throwbacks!

THREE years ago ~ July 2008

37 weeks and wondering if I had a boy or girl in there.

50 Days of Summer: Day 33

2011-07-17T20:50:00.009-04:00

Hey...this is my 300th blog post!

Today Georgia gave us some beautiful weather. It was pretty much perfect. Sunny...not boiling hot, but hot enough that the pool was nice and refreshing.

The Mullinax Family joined us for pool fun today. It was nice spending some time with them as usual. We also had another guest join us, Tayler! Tayler is one of Bryan's "old" volleyball players. Tayler is now coaching with the Pope Volleyball family in the middle school program so of course Bryan and Tayler talked a lot about volleyball.

Friends, pool and pizza for dinner = another great day!

Just so yall know...I am on my tip toes and Tayler is bending her knees. ;)

And one more VERY important bit of information...

Now that my girl Amber has gone public with her exciting news I would like to share it as well...

There is a BUN IN THE OVEN!!!!

When I got the phone call I literally started crying. I was so completely happy for her and her hubby Eric. Amber has had a bumpy start to the pregnancy, but things are moving right along now. Please keep Eric, Amber and Baby in your prayers over the next 6 months.
Their little nugget will be making a debut in late January!!!

Happy Parents-to-Be!!

50 Days of Summer: Day 32

2011-07-16T21:59:00.010-04:00

Today we were treated to a "Musical" put on by the kids. The girls have been working on this musical all week. They even made invitations to the event, which I really should have taken a picture of because the spelling was pretty spectacular!!

Grab some popcorn and enjoy...

Jordyn the Musical!

Sydney the Musical!

Bryce does Rock & Roll

50 Days of Summer: Day 31

2011-07-15T19:55:00.005-04:00

It's Friday as in Pool Friday.
Go figure that it's been boiling hot all week here in Georgia except for the day we go to the pool. It was overcast. A light mist of rain stayed with us for majority of the day. This did not stop swim lessons and it did not stop the kids from having fun in the pool. As for me...I was huddled in a chair with a towel to keep my legs warm and I ended up having to borrow a hoodie from my mom. I was freezing! Bryan and the kids assured me the water was warm, but the thought of being wet and cold when I got out of the water kept me sidelined. The highlight of my day was getting to visit with friends I haven't spent much time with lately.

After some fun in the drizzle, the kids watched a movie. Not the Pool Friday I had envisioned (sun, lounging in a float while my kiddos splashed).
The kids had a blast, and really...that is what matters most.
Watching movies and eating snacks with Noah and Elijah.

50 Days of Summer: Day 30

2011-07-14T18:38:00.005-04:00

Sydney got her first summer job this week. Our neighbors went out of town for the week to the beach and asked if Sydney would water their plants each day while they were away. She was so excited when I told her about the job and she was even more excited to learn that she was going to be paid!!

She has taken her job very seriously and completes her duties each morning before we head out to work. She has 3 plants to water so she makes 3 trips to the hose to fill up her watering pitcher, always making sure she has turned the water off.

I took a few "spy" pictures this morning, but she ended up catching me in the act. I'm proud of my girl for taking her responsibilities so seriously. If anyone ever needs someone to take care of their plants while they are out of town...I know a certain someone perfect for the job!

50 Days of Summer: Day 29

2011-07-13T21:49:00.009-04:00

Guess where we went tonight?

A birthday party!!

Little cousin Shepard celebrated his FIRST birthday tonight. It was a nice little family get together with pizza and cake.

Ohhh the cake!

Check out this little guy...I want to eat him up.

Nope. No hat. Take it off. Take it off. Take it off.

It's not a party until someone gets cake in their hair and ear.

Weird. I don't think he liked the cake?!

Full of cake...and full of energy. ;)

How can one family have so many beautiful kids??
Left to Right:
Sydney, India, Shepard, Kristen, Bryce, Bennett, Jordyn, Maisie and Ethan.

I had to post this picture because not only are all of the kids adorable...Bryce is going in for a kiss on Kristen. As you can see she is trying to get him to look forward, but that smile says she loved it.

Shepard shares his birthday with his mommy (which was yesterday)...
Happy Birthday Shepard and Karey.
Thanks for a fun party!

50 Days of Summer: Day 28

2011-07-12T20:14:00.008-04:00

This evening we had a much anticipated bike riding play date with The Grundy Family. This summer has been so busy that we have yet to get the kids together so even though it was uncomfortably hot outside were were determined to get the kids together for some play time.

What do moms and dads do while they sweat to death watching their kiddos play?

Have some drinks of course. ;)

We lasted as long as we could in the heat...about an hour.

Bella-Dawg

By the time we went in Bryce looked like he had put his head under a water faucet. This kid was playing hard!

Aidan was getting major speed on his bike. His mom LOVED that. ;)

A game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

Big guy on a little bike.
Mr. Ivan is funny.

50 Days of Summer: Day 27

2011-07-11T20:09:00.007-04:00

This is my friend Amy.
Sometimes we lovingly refer to each other as "Hooker"...but never in front of our kids.
Why? I don't know, we just think it's funny.
We met at work (Cap Gemini Ernst & Young) in 2000 and have been friends ever since. Oh yea...her and her cute family live next door to us.

Today is her birthday so my 27th day of summer is dedicated to her.

Happy "29th" Birthday Amy!!

Here are just a few random pictures from over the years.
Don't worry Grundy they are blog approved and I a good majority of them are not on this computer.

The one in the middle with the super hot knee high stockings...yea, that's Amy.
Christmas 2010

Great Strides "After Walk Party" at our house... 2009.

A random date night with the Grundy's in 2009...I think.

This is usually how the entire evening goes with us.
Girl is FUNNY.

Kani House - 2010 for my birthday! Having Bryan, Amy and Ivan sitting together made for some misbehaving on that side of the table.

Another date night with the Grundy's. Dave & Buster's this time.

November 2008...I don't know what we were thinking.

We are being made fun of by our husbands here.

Halloween at Missy's - 2008

Great Strides 2011 - they have walked every year with us. :)

Yep. I just did that Grundy. Ivan's surprise party in 2009.
Get that girl an ottoman...QUICK! ;)