Tuesday, December 9, 2008

gosh I love my kids....

Snow, snow DO NOT go away... we LOVE snow days. Jed is gone for a few days on business so I was thrilled when the school cancellations flashed across the screen this morning. No scraping my car, no shoveling...just pjs and fun today!

I was on the couch drinking coffee and working (does facebook and ebay count as working?), ok really I was browsing! The girls were playing so nicely together. I was hearing more giggles then cries...life was good. two little girls came bouncing up to me and handed me a nickel... "mom smell this" Madison says. I put it to my nose.. "smells good" i respond. giggles, giggles and then belly laughs erupt. "Mom, I farted on it" Madison blurts. I about died.... I called Jed and he thought it was great... I think he was proud to be totally honest!

A few hours later I was getting all of my scrapbook stuff ready as I am going to take full advantage of this day in the house! The girls were watching the movie Barnyard. Madison comes in the kitchen and asks me .."when is coyote season?". I told her i did not know and that she would have to ask Jed.... A few minutes later Olivia come in... "I never want to live on a farm". "Why", I ask... "because that's where the coyotes eat the peoples" she informs me. I asked why in the world she thought that ... "because if they eat the cows like on the movie they will eat the people too". I told her I agreed with the part about not living on the farm, but not because the coyotes will eat you!!

Man I love these crazy girls...even when they fart on things and make me smell l them...

Thursday, December 4, 2008

my new do.....




so I have been feeling like I am in the middle of a mid-life crisis.... not really a crisis just a slump! You know the feeling...old, dated, overweight, tired looking...the whole "don't want to look in the mirror feeling"! So I decided to go for it...cut off the long locks, do some waxing, wear all black....
Here are the results of a few hours and allot of professional help! I really do like it. It so strange as never in my life have I had short hair!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

my sweet angel....

Sweet Maddie Grace.... Thank you all so much for your prayers and concern for our precious girl these last few weeks. She is doing well. I am really trying to be positive and remember just how far she has come. I was looking back in the older post from the blog and was so emotional as I look at just what this girl has been through. We are still moving forward day by day. Trying to adjust meds to get where we need to be. We had an xray today and everything looked good... probably means that we can hold at the dosages we are at and then recheck in a week.

Some days are better then others. Madison is back in pull ups as we are just not having much success with no accidents. She is trying .... I can tell that she is frustrated. Hopefully with the adjustments that we will be making in adding pectin back in tomorrow she will have better control and feeling.

When we went to get xrays today the technician asked why we were there... when I responded "she had a colon resection in July" he looked surprised ....the severity of what she has been through really hit me for the first time... My sweet girl has been through more then I could have ever imagined. So really in the grand skeem of things a little medicine, and occasional enema and some cute pull-ups are really not all that bad. We have come a LONG way in the last 6 months. I believe with all of my heart that we will get the "home run" yet.

Thanks for praying. This little girl is going to do great things in her life... I wonder what the Lord is preparing her for? Whatever it is, it is going to be amazing.

sisters......

Kori...Lauren...Danielle....Heidi...Nikki
so thankful for all of my sisters. How fun to all be together at Thanksgiving! It is so weird how fast time flies... 5 boys (aka husbands!), 7 kids, 1 baby in the oven....so much love. So blessed.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

thanksgiving....

madison...aka pilgrim!
Madison's school program


miss Teagan


Emily Mauch


Olivia and Maddie


Ted Robert


Aunt Lauren and Olivia


Cousins....Kelli, Olivia, Maddie & Andrew

Miss Eden
Grandpa Cronk

Madison and Teagan





Thanksgiving was GREAT! Here are some pics to recap all the fun with the family!

an interior design moms clothing nightmare....



really.... could the outfits be any better!! I was about ready to die when the kids came down dressed and ready to head to the store. I am trying to say no less but this just could not be left for the public to see. Olivia thought that it was funny...Madison was less then happy with my decision to make her change! Gotta love a kids choice!

Friday, November 21, 2008

still no success...

still no results from the enema or the meds. Dr. Levitt upped the meds as of last night. We will see what happens..... Probably need an enema today if no results this morning. Xray tomorrow.

Thanks for your prayers,
Nikki

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

bummed out....


so, not a good day yesterday for poor Maddie. We have been noticing that her stooling is getting less frequent these last few weeks. have been keeping a close tab on it and trying to do what we can to keep things "normal". Last week we had 2 different stretches when she went 3 days with no poo...not a good thing at all for her colon that is supposed to be faster then normal since the surgery. Talked with Dr. Levitt on Monday and he was concerned and asked to see an xray of her belly. After he saw the xray he confirmed that our worst fears were right and that she was accumulating stool in her colon. So here begins the cycle that we had so hoped we were moving away from. Madison had to have a 300 cc enema last night and now we will start again on the ex-lax daily. We will repeat the xray on Friday and see if she is all clean. if so we will continue daily on the meds. If not we will re administer an enema and up the dosages of ex-lax. UUGGHHH...


Last night Jed was getting all of the stuff together for the enema. I had not told Maddie what was going on as it just causes unnecessary anxiety for her. I took her in the room and she was asking what I was doing... when Jed came in the bathroom and she say the enema bag in his hands she looked at me with the most heartbreaking look, with eyes that cried out "help me mom". She just looked at me crying waiting for an explanation. It was all I could do to talk without falling apart. I explained to her what was going on and why it was so important to stay empty to avoid even bigger problems.


She continues to amaze me with her strength. After the bad part was done we were all sitting in the bathroom with her on my lap waiting the awful 15 minutes for the enema to take effect. She looked at me with a red, tear stained face and said "mom it didn't even hurt that bad, it just scares me". How could it not scare her? I hate that we have to hold her with all of our might to even administer the dang thing...she is physically so strong. After all of these years she knows how to fight off the ones that are coming for her with any medical equipment!


So please continue to pray for this sweet little girl. Pray that we do not get back in a bad pattern with her, that meds can stay at a very low dose and that she will start to really get full bowel recognition.


We appreciate all of your prayers for her!

Monday, November 17, 2008

hero of the month!!......


here she is... your very own, Madison Smith... Kids Wish Network Hero of the Month for November! O my goodness was she excited when the package arrived! Filled with goodies, t-shirts, certificates, cool games and a $200 gift card to Walmart!!! We are so proud of the way that she has persevered through all of her trauma and do agree that she is a Hero! Way to go Maddie!


PS. If you go to McDonald's this month... say YES when they ask if you want to donate a dollar to Ronald McDonald houses. they will ask whose name you want on your donation hand... I suggest you put Maddie's!!!

leaves, leaves and more leaves....








Leaves....do they ever stop falling from the trees??? We have been tackling the back yard for weeks. Last weekend we spent all day outside raking. The girls had a blast! We would fill up the tarp to pull to the street... the girls would jump on and go for a ride! We got quite the workout but they loved it! What cute pics of fall fun!

whos kid is she.......


She is just to much!!!! Gotta love this spunky kid!

scrapbooking....




this picture was taken the day before we checked in to the hospital for surgery.
I will transfer over my journal entry from that emotion night to the right page.


I just go back from 3 days of scrapbooking with 12 other women. It was so great! I LOVE getting things accomplished. I came home with 80 pages completed in the girls albums. YEAH!!! One of the things that I love the most about scrapbooking is taking trips down memory lane. Many times this weekend I found myself just frozen staring at a picture replaying all that I remember about that particular event. I have gobs of photos from this last year and everyone is so special, telling its own story. I loved journaling to my girls about how special they are, how much they are loved and what I hope for their futures. I pray that they will always know just how they make my heart smile... on the good days and the bad. When I got home I was so excited as they wanted to sit and look at all of their new pages. They LOVED looking and talking about all of the different memories. Later Jed wanted to sit and look through it all. It was so fun to just look back at the girls in the last few years. We commented about not even really remembering the details of when they were that young.... the mom fog gets in the way. I remember the daily activities the cute things they did, but until I see a picture I forget the way that the cheeks dimpled, the hair parted, the nose dripped.... thank God for the gift of freezing those moments on film. They do grow to fast..... I used to think that people were crazy when they would visit us after just having one of the girls. I would be holding a little 6 pound peanut wrapped up in a preemie outfit and they would caution..."before you know it she will be heading off to college". I would do a little "give me a break" in the back of my mind... again the mom fog! And now......uuuggghhh 6 years old already. Sob, weep. I asked Olivia last night with a sense of sadness in my voice when she got so big. She replied, "mom its just the way life goes"!!! Jed and I died laughing.

So to all of you none scrapbookers, do your kids and yourself a favor.... do something special with your photos. Don't keep those precious moments stuck in a computer or in a shoebox. Print them, share your heart at this time in your life. Journal for your kids. I laugh so many times when I read entry's from earlier. Days when I talk about just how tired I am, how the fighting and whining is going to make me go over the cliff.... and then there are the days that you read about the kids that played together...nicely! The entries about tender conversations between two sisters sandwiched together in a hospital bed after Madison's surgery.... things that would be forgotten had I not taken the time to sit and record and capture! Let the dishes go today for they will still be there tomorrow!!! Instead grab your notebook and write what you love about your kids, what drives you wild and just how much you love being the family zoo keeper. Your kids will thank you!
enough sap.....










Saturday, November 1, 2008

grandparents day....

Friday was Granparents day at Madisons school. She was so thrilled to have all 4 granparents there! I am always sooooo amazed at how much they can learn and memorize...... She did great!!!

halloween...

The elephant and the bee.... we had a great time last night with the girls... we went trick-or treating right at 5 so we could beat the crowds... also made stops at the grandparents and great-grandparents... Madison was so sweet with Olivia. Olivia is kinda shy (would you ever guess that??) Maddie would hold her hand and be so sensitive... what a great big sister!

Great Grandpa Cronk

Great Grandpa TC Smith

throwback to the 80's....

so we took 2 trips down memory lane this week.


Trip #1....


I put the girls hair in the old school sponge rollers. It was like I was sitting I on the floor in the Mogion (?) Drive house.... this is just what us girls looked like on Saturday nights!! Kori and Heidi do you remember it?? I chuckled when the girls complained about it hurting when they laid down... I remember that too!!!


Typical late night melt downs...gotta love that I got it on film!!!Ok..so it really is bedtime...




then trip #2...


We stopped out at Steve and Janans house after janan had gone through the garage. She had just found some boxes with the kids old toys. Jed was so cute looking through it all and rembering so many great times... these were a few of his favorites!!