So Long. Farewell.

Several days ago, we said good-bye to our two cats, Cooper and Shadow. It was a sad day for all of us, but, in the long run, it's for the best.

Little Ty with a little Cooper



Luke's last night with his buddy Shadow. Such a rough night for our boy :(



Cooper riding in the van with me as we moved up to Utah.

Shadow

Ty had put a Lego on Shadow's head and it stayed there for a long time!

Shadow sleeping with a stuffed animal.

Shadow chillin' under the Christmas tree.

Shadow sleeping by his best buddy Luke

With Curt's job, we are most likely going to be relocating numerous times over the next several years and not having pets to move with us each time will definitely make things easier. Although it's been sad, we are hopeful that the cats have both found good homes where they will be loved.

Jake Turns FIVE!!

Jake turned 5 on October 9th! He chose dinner and shopping with Mom & Dad, instead of a big party. We took him to Red Robin the day before since his birthday fell on a Saturday. Jake requested Mac'N Cheese for his dinner and a chocolate shake. We had a fun time with our little guy and are so grateful to have him in our family! We love you, Jake!!

At home with his new Squinkies!



Daddy and Jake (and the balloon that he picked out for himself). Jake also wanted to spend some of his bday $ to get a balloon for his 2 brothers, too! Such a thoughtful boy!




Playing with his new Hot Wheels garage



Grandma Holbrook, Aunt Alayna, Cousin Ashlie, and Joe came over for cake and ice cream on Sunday!

Ashlie and the boys

29 Weeks...and Counting!!

2011 Rain Gutter Regatta

Luke had his first Rain Gutter Regatta in Cub Scouts on the 28th. He was so excited! His boat was called "the Black Widow" and he did a really nice job on painting it. He won quite a few of his races and was a good sport as always! His brothers had fun cheering him on and are excited for the day when they are old enough to be in Scouts too.





Preschool Field Trip

Jake had his first field trip of this school year and he had a blast! We met at a fire station in Chandler and all of the guys there were great with the kids. Afterwards, we had lunch at the park and the kids played on the splash pad and playground. I was hot and sweaty, but Jake had so much fun, so it was worth it!

Meeting #13

A couple of weeks back, I saw on Twitter that Kurt Warner's wife, Brenda, was going to be at a bookstore in Mesa for a book signing to promote her new book. When I saw that her hubby was going to be there with her, I knew I had to take the boys! While Curt and Jake stayed behind, I took Luke and Ty to the book signing. We only waited in line for about 20-25 minutes before we got our chance to say "hi" and to get autographs. Luke brought his Cardinals football for Kurt to sign and he and Brenda both signed my copy of her new book. They weren't able to chit chat much, but it was still neat to see them. I think Luke, especially, was in such shock! He is a BIG football fan and treasures that autographed football from one of his favorite players :)

We're almost there!

Before we walked away, I mentioned to Kurt that Luke was born in Burlington Iowa (where Kurt used to bag groceries before he played in the NFL). He said it was a small world and that he was born in Burlington, too. It's cool for Luke to have something in common with the famous Kurt Warner!

Update on Jake

Since June, Jake has been taking Depakote twice a day. We gradually bumped him up to 3 capsules in the morning, and 3 at night. He has tolerated the medicine well, with no side effects other than an increase in his appetite. About 3 weeks ago, I took him to Phx Children's Hospital to have another EEG done. We met with his neurologist a week or so later and she told us that his EEG showed seizure activity still. The seizure activity has greatly decreased, compared to his previous EEG and we are grateful for that. According to the report, he is having more when he's asleep than when he's awake. That is why the dr has increased his night time dose to 4 capsules...hoping to give his brain a little more rest at night. We had to have blood drawn this time and Jake didn't flinch or whine at all, although he was mad that the lady had to stick him twice!! He is tough as nails :) We will see how he does over the next couple of months and follow up with the neurologist again in December. We are also finally getting him evaluated with a speech therapist next week to see if he is behind at all. So there is some improvement with his epilepsy and we are extremely grateful!!



In the waiting room before his EEG




He loves this tic-tac-toe board!




Picture Jake drew of he and I while we were in the room waiting to see the neurologist :)