First day of Kindergarten

I'm not sure how it happened so fast, but Tyler's first day of kindergarten arrived.  How did we go from this...

to getting on a school bus starting kindergarten??!!! 

We decided to have a relaxed evening last night (movie night watching Shrek and having a PJ Picnic) and were hoping to get to bed early.  Well, after a very sweet talk with Tyler about school and life I finally said good night around 7:30.  Then 8:00 came around and he was hot and couldn't sleep, then 8:30, and then 9:00 and finally he got himself settled down enough to fall asleep.  And believe it or not, I heard his door open at 5:30 this morning to use the bathroom and not sure if he actually fell back to sleep because he was definitely up before 7:00 ready to get dressed for school!  He put his outfit on and ran into Teddy's room where Adam was feeding him and said "Daddy, do I look like a kindergartner?"  Ohhh, it made me teary eyed and it was hardly 7:00 am.  I was also feeling nervous, anxious, and excited for the day.  He and Ethan both were hyped up and kind of all over the place this morning.  At one point, I pulled Tyler aside and gave him my guardian angel that almost feels like a flat marble.  I told him that it will keep him safe, make him brave, and give him strength just like it has for me.  He looked at it with his big chocolate and gave me a huge smile.  I told him to rub it if he ever needed some extra help or good energy.  He then said "just like you always did at the hospital.  It really works."  He put it in his pocket, said his thank you, and then was off playing some more.  A tender moment I will always remember.  We finally got out of the house around 12:10 for the bus to arrive at 12:17.  Tyler let me take a few pictures and Matthew wanted his picture taken too.  The boys were still pretending they were pirates and next thing we knew the bus was right in front of us.  I was like "whoa, here's the bus.  It's time boys."  And next thing we knew, we were walking across the street and I saw Tyler reach into his pocket and grab for the guardian angel I gave him and then he turned around at the top of the stairs and was like "I got it Mommy" and gave me a big smile and the next thing I know the door closes and off the bus goes.  And then the flood gates opened up and I couldn't help myself.  The vision of the bus driving away and my healthy little boy experiencing something new all by himself was almost too much for me.  It's such a bittersweet moment and one I've always known was coming but nothing could prepare for that feeling.  A feeling that I'm sure will come again many times throughout this journey of parenthood, but still doesn't make it easy.  Poor little Matty was also upset because "I wanna get on the bus too.  When can I got to school with Tyler?"  He wasn't very happy, but a quick recommendation of playing Candy Land got us quickly back to "normal".  It will be a process we are going to have to get used to.  I know Tyler is more than ready and has been looking forward to this day for a long time.  I hope so much for his experience to be a positive one and a great foundation to a lifetime of learning.  He is our special little buddy and I'm still tearing up as I type this.  The smells of the cake baking fills the air and we are going to have a big "first day of school" celebration upon his return with Daddy! 

brother watching

We were playing outside after eating some cake and all the boys were hyped up on sugar.  Everyone was running around, driving around, and crawling around.  One of my favorite things in the world is to watch Teddy watching his older brothers.  Any time the boys come anywhere near him or towards and anywhere that Teddy can see, he belts out the cutest belly laughs.  It amazes me how much he reacts to his big brothers and already wants so badly to get their attention and keep up with all the craziness.  In fact, he is already crawling around everywhere and isn't even 7 months old yet.  Sheesh!  I can only imagine what it's going to be like when he can walk and run like the rest of them.  Things in the neighborhood might get a little louder and a bit crazier, that's for sure. 

Renissance Fair

Catching rain drops

It was just about time for dinner and the rain started to come down from the sky.  Tyler jumped from the floor and decided it would be fun to try to catch rain drops on his tongue.  This picture is what I was watching from the kitchen door.  Matthew joined him for a minute, but when he saw me pull out the camera he came running in telling me to put it away!  Something about this moment made me smile so much.  It seems so innocent and simple and enjoyable.  Like he doesn't have a care in the world except to have fun in the  rain...this is what a 5-year-old's rainy summer day should look like :)

First Bath with 3!

It was a bit crowded and didn't last long, but all three boys were in the bath at the same time tonight.  Teddy was all excited and kept kicking Matty (which Matty didn't like!) and flinging his body backward.  So, we pulled him out pretty quick.  I think we'll have more room once Teddy doesn't need the ring, but until then three is sort of a crowd and a good lesson on being flexible!

1st Anniversary of Ty's illness

I have been anticipating this day for quite some time.  Thank goodness everyone was healthy and we were all home to be together.  Tyler and I talked about this day and what it means.  I wasn't sure exactly how to honor the day and decided to run some things by Tyler and gauge his reactions.  Just as I thought, he was very excited about some of the ideas.  We decided to deliver cookies and 'thank you' cards to all of those people that helped us during our hospital stay.  Thursday was filled with baking probably as many as 10 dozen cookies.  The boys decided upon thumbprint and chocolate chip cookies and actually help dump all the ingredients and do some of the mixing.  Between the two different batches, we painted 'thank you' cards and I wrote cards and attached Disney pictures to them.  The boys only asked for cookies twice and then Tyler would say to Matty "we need to save the rest for the Doctors and nurses".  I loved it.  Friday arrived and I did have a small conversation with Tyler about what happened last year and how we need to appreciate our health and especially the people that helped get him healthy.  The first stop was Dr. Medzoyan's office.  All the nurses came out front to talk with us and Tyler said his 'thank yous' to all the ladies (Dr. Medzoyan had the day off).  Some of them reminisced about that time and all of them said how happy they were to see healthy Tyler.  A few got teary-eyed and all seemed very appreciative.  When we got back into the car, Tyler was all happy and decided to call us the "happy elves delivering sunshine on this raining day".  What a great idea!  We went back to pick up Daddy and Teddy and then drove to Hershey to make the next stop.  Tyler and went to the Dialysis nurses first and all the ladies came out to greet us.  They all seemed especially excited to see him since it's been so long and he looks so much happier.  Tyler was very sweet to all of them and many of the ladies had happy tears.  Again, they seemed so appreciative and asked to come back again soon.  SaraLynn, a very special nurse, was there and so happy to see Tyler so well.  It really did feel like we were little elves bringing some sunshine.  As Tyler and I were walking through the halls of the hospital, he surprisingly reminisced a lot about his hospital stay and brought up a lot of different stories.  For example, the party the two of us had on the bridge watching the construction trucks, the time with Phil and Maciek came to visit and flying Otto around the lobby, and playing in the Child Life room, and popping a wheelie in the wheel chair!  Amazingly enough, everything he was talking about and remembering seemed to be happy thoughts.  He was doing lots of smiling and seemed in a great mood.  We then dropped off our last bowl of cookies to the PICU/IMC unit.  Everyone was busy and we were only able to talk with the social worker, but I think it worked out better that way.  Then Tyler really wanted to play in the Child Life room, which we were happy to do.  When it was time to leave the hospital, we decided to go to Sorrento's for a lunch celebration.  We said we were celebrating life, every one's life today, and especially all the people that helped us get to this anniversary.  Lunch was filled with hang man, silliness, and great moments.  We didn't get home until after 2:30 and everyone fell asleep in the car.  It was a beautiful morning and a perfect way to honor this milestone for our family.  We have a second chance at life and we literally owe it to so many wonderful people especially all of our doctors and nurses.  Thank God for today.

Colorado Highlights

Our trip to Colorado was a true highlight of the summer.  We managed to fit in so many incredible moments and did some really fun things.  It's hard to put into words all the fun that happned in a week, so I am going to highlight it.
-the boy's excitement when I dropped them off at the airport
-seeing all the family in Silverton
-Hawiian welcome party
-early morning waking and hanging out with all the east-coasters before the rest of the house woke up
-the pool table
-Tyler's private shelves to keep his food safe and accessible
-amazing race and Tyler and Izzy holding the trophy
-Matthew loving the water cups of the amazing race
-extra love, support, and help from Lauren
-early morning walks, hikes
-mining and panning for gold and silver
-winding roads and no guard rails
-flat tire and special trip back to the lodge on the gator
-Tyler and Izzy and Matty starting to get comfortable and playing together
-Izzy helping me put the older boys to bed
-pictures, pinatas, and games the last night and all the youngest cousins starting to play with each other
-Dad getting everyone to sing "Doe a Deer" after the large group picture
-Izzy being able to get Teddy to belly laugh at any time of day
-hanging out the entire Cahill gang the last night after kids were asleep
-the process of taking our "old time" photograph and the particular photographer determined to get it right
-road trip to Telluride on a spare tire and finally the five of us being together and catching up with Adam
-break in Euray, the brew pub, the cute pink dress, and breaking the Geod
-each family getting our own floor in the large rented home in Telluride
-the kids playing in the loft or "control tower" as Tyler called it
-Tyler and Julia going on a honeymoon
-Tyler always finding "sparkly rocks"
-Tyler getting sick and but then waking up much better
-going into town one night after the kids were asleep and hanging out a a brew pub with Travis and Shannon
-the Gondola rides
-long talk with Willa by the hot tub
-the setting for the horseback riding and the wonderful man that hosted us on his property
-4 flights of stairs
-frisbee golf
-the difficult mission of finding soy formula
-watching all the cousins play so well together
-hearing Bea call Matthew "Maf" and "my maf"
-the beautiful park at the far end of town with the bouldering wall
-watching the boys really connect with Baca
-Teddy smiling at everyone all the time
-the girls all "slipping into" a store and getting some cute clothes
-Adam's smile while riding a horse
-Matthew's smile running around so freely
-Tyler saying how much he loves Colorado
- Our entire family being together
-keeping everyone safe and healthy (except for the colds everyone seemed to get!)