Advent Activity #2 {Jesus Is Love}

We did two activities from our new Advent Calendar this week. Our first lesson was “Jesus Is Love”. We read scripture that told about Jesus’ love and that he commands us to love each other. It wasn’t just a good lesson for the quads’ but a good one I could be reminded of every once in a while.

John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.

John 15:17 This is my command: Love each other.

We talked about how easy it is to love those who show us love, how it’s easy to love those who we consider loveable, nice, kind and “deserving” of love. What about the people who are hard to love? The kid at school who doesn’t always act or talk nice? Perhaps your sibling when they make a bad decision in someway that hurts you? Honestly, some days it’s hard to show love towards difficult people or in difficult situations. Jesus tells us plain and simple… “Love each other”. Period. No if’s, no stipulations.

The activity that went along with the lesson was to write a “Love Letter” to someone special. After discussing different ways we can show love to those around us, each of the quads’ picked ONE person to write a letter of love to. A simple message that would show Jesus’ love and hopefully brighten the day of each recipient. Being “big” kindergarteners, Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin were excited to get to write the letters themselves and practice sounding out their words as they did their best to spell what they wanted to say!

Between the four writers and one busy Blade, I somehow only managed to get pictures of Brody & Baxlyn during the activity… boo. Here’s Broman working to hard addressing the envelope being dropping it in the mail…

Here’s a shot of Kylee’s finished product. She kept her letter of love short and sweet. I love how their confidence is building as they start to try to spell words themselves. So so precious! Her letter translates “U R Beautiful” accompanied by a heart…

 

Miss Baxlyn on the other hand could sit and write/color/draw all.day.long. While I’ll keep who her recipient was anonymous, I can tell you she POURED every thought she had into her letter, filling up the page both front and back. This little girl’s heart and kind spirit is simply amazing and makes me so proud. I can only hope the recipient of her letter can feel the love she put into it!

Their finished letters, addressed and ready to be delivered! Who knows, you may be one of the lucky ones that received (will be receiving) one of these ;)

Advent Calendar Fun! {Jesus Is Awesome}

I helped host a Shopping Night last month for our local Moms of Multiples group. One of our vendors made these AWESOME Advent calendars and I knew I had to have one the moment I saw them. We’ve always had Advent calendars of some kind whether it be opening little boxes to see what’s inside each day or a simple move-the-marker-to-the-next-date on the Christmas decoration that is hung on the wall but this, this was so unique! There are 30 (I believe) lesson cards to chose from and each lesson highlights a specific attribute of Jesus (Jesus Loved His Neighbors, Jesus Was Obedient, Jesus Cares For You…etc.). Each card has several Bible verses on it that corresponds with the lesson along with kid-friendly discussion questions followed by an easy, low or no cost activity that ties back to the lesson’s theme!

Although there are plenty of cards to do a lesson and activity every day of the month, that just ain’t happening at our house ;) My goal, this year at least, is to do at least one a week. Our first lesson was “Jesus Is Awesome”.

The babes were so excited about the new calendar! We gathered together in the living room, spent a few short minutes reading our verses and answering the given questions and moved on to the activity for the day. In this particular lesson we read several verses in the Bible about how awesome Jesus is. We then discussed awesome, wonderful, beautiful things we’ve seen and why they amaze us. Our activity for this lesson was homemade snow-globes!

The back of the lesson card listed all the supplies we needed (which I just happened to have at home already!) as well as the directions for making our globes!

We gathered our jars, glitter, glue gun and small figurines we found around the house and each kid choose which they wanted…

Korbin was the only one who wanted his snow-globe to be Christmas themed. He found a wooden Christmas-looking tree from their train set to use. We simply hot glued the figurine to the inside of the jar’s lid, filled the jar with water, added a few pinches of glitter, screwed the lid on really tight and gave them a shake! It was as simple as that and they turned out super cute!

Brody chose this little army man. We had to chop his legs off in order for him to fit into the jar, but it worked ;)

Our finished products…

Brody

 

Baxlyn

Korbin

Kylee

Blade (Elmo, but of course!)

It’s been several days since we made our snow-globes and they’ve held up well. I was afraid the kids would try to unscrew the lids (because that’s what anyone’s kids would do, right?!) so at first I attempted to add glue to the lids and then screw them on really fast so they’d be stuck for good. Yeah, don’t do that. It was a mess and I couldn’t get the lid to seal at all. I just tightened them really well and, luckily, the kids haven’t messed with them.

 

If you’re interested in having one of these awesome advent calendars for yourself (or a loved one!), check out Laura's Etsy shop by clicking here! If you feel it’s too late to order one for the holiday season, order one anyways! The calendars can actually be used year round. The large card that reads “Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room” can be replaced with this one…

The lesson card clip can hold a family photo throughout the year until you start the lesson cards again! The black area at the top right is a little chalkboard so you can write whatever you wish. LOVE!

We’ll share our next Advent Adventure soon!

Recoveries… Quad-Style…

Our Kylee Mae is 6 days post-op and doing remarkably well. Not ONCE has she complained of pain since being home! She’s hardly using her wheelchair in the house as she prefers to crawl until her knees hurt (we’ve offered knee pads and she doesn’t like them). She can now even go potty all by herself (at home)! I never realized how much a five year old peed until I had to take one each and every time. She also went back to school on Friday! I was told her class was more than excited to not only have her back, but to see her new wheels too ;) Bathing her and getting her in and out of the van has been a little challenging, but if those are our only issues, I won’t complain! Here she is posing with the Edible Arrangement sent to her from Mamaw & Wayne!

Korbin’s belly is healing nicely too. Here’s his tiny scar from his surgery… (by the way, those are leftovers from the tattooed battle-scene he had going on a couple of weeks ago, I swear we bathe him.)

Mr. Brody's head is looking better each day as well! He has a follow up with his neurosurgeon in a few days and should be cleared to resume all normal activities such as recess and PE at school… whoop!

These quadlings are seriously such BIG troopers and they make me so proud :] Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Stay tuned, I CAN. NOT. WAIT. to share our advent fun we’ve been doing over here!!!

Kylee: Home Sweet Home!

Kylee was discharged yesterday afternoon as planned. She is happy to be home and feeling great! While her wheelchair is a wonderful help to us, unfortunately, Kylee can’t wheel herself. Her left hand (aka “Lefty”) can’t quite grasp and rotate the wheel like her right hand so the poor girl goes in circles when she tries to get anywhere alone! I was hoping that eventually she’d be able to crawl from place to place but to my surprise, she was already crawling all over the place within an hour of being home!

So far, she’s only had pain medication one time in the hospital. She’s not complaining a bit. Brody & Korbin also came out of surgery requiring no pain meds during recovery... Bret and I are thinking they may all have a high pain tolerance due to all they went through during NICU and those first few years. Who knows… I’m just glad she’s feeling good!

Here are the quads saying a special thanks to the Self Family for having dinner delivered last night after we came home. Thank you so much!

While she’s glad to be home, Kylee wouldn’t have hesitated to stay at the hospital. I’m always amazed by Cooks and the love that every person there has to offer. It’s truly an amazing place and I’m so thankful we have such a wonderful place so close to home where our kids can be treated with the best care. Yesterday morning, Chanel (the therapy dog who was there for their first round of “in office” Botox) came to see her. She walked right in, hopped up on Kylee’s bed and would have stayed all day if they had let her. Those of you who know Kylee, know she loves loves animals so this made her day!

After a nice pancake breakfast, Kylee was able to ditch her IV pole for a while and venture downstairs where she met…..SANTA! She spent a good ten minutes with him talking, telling him all about Pita, her brothers and sister, our tree and what she wanted for Christmas. This was the first year she wasn’t scared at all – I thought we would never get there ;)

After meeting him, she decorated some ornaments in the library and chose to go back to give them to Santa. Never hurts to get on his good side, I guess ;) He told her he loved them and that he would take them back to the North Pole to show his busy elves…

 

After leaving Santa we ran into Ralph, Chanel’s quadruplet brother, for the first time! We have heard so much about Chanel’s siblings and how they are all therapy dogs. Kylee was thrilled!

It wasn’t long after our fun throughout the hospital that Kylee started feeling uncomfortable. Although she was back in her bed, the fun continued. She was visited by a group of pilots who all showered her with gifts and shortly after that, two clowns came to entertain her! I’m telling you, their patients treated so wonderfully and they give kids every reason to NOT want to go home!

 Kylee was supposed to return to school on Monday but is she continues to do great, she may go back on Friday. She will go back in 2 weeks for a follow up with Dr. Mayfield and should get her cast off after 6 weeks. Thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers! Bret and I are hoping this is our last surgery for a while, as I’m sure our insurance is too ;)

Update - Kylee is out of surgery!

Kylee got out of surgery just after 11am, thank you all for your kind words and prayers! Dr. Mayfield said everything went great and even did surgery on her little unicorn's left leg with a cast that looks like Kylee's :)

 

Her doctor made a total of 5 incisions to complete the transfer. The tendon he took (wish I could show a picture that explains it better, but laptop is acting up) ran down the side of her ankle into a bone on her foot. He went in and split the tendon in half (length wise, not cut in half) and re-routed one half of the tendon around and attached it to the opposite side of her foot. Basically, he made the inside of her foot that was really tight, weaker. The half of the tendon that was pulled around to the other side is now helping pull her foot to a more natural position. He said once he put the first suture in that attached the tendon to the new spot, he let go of her foot and it stayed put - AMAZING! He added a few more sutures to reinforce just to be safe. He also did a gastroc release (cut the muscle near her calve) to help her increased tone.

After surgery, the anesthesiologist performed a sciatic nerve block so Kylee won't feel anything from her knee down. The block typically lasts 12-24 hours. Once the block starts to wear off is when we deal with additional pain management. Please pray that we can can easily control her pain! If all goes well and she appears to have tolerated surgery well, we should be discharged tomorrow.

Her bright YeLlOw cast! Next to pink, her signature "quad-color", Kylee loves yellow!



We will update again soon!

Please Pray for Kylee {SPOTT Surgery}

 

Tomorrow morning (Monday, Dec. 1st) our Kylee will go into surgery. Yes, another surgery. This will be our 3rd in about 6 weeks. Thankfully, both boys are doing wonderfully and their recoveries have been great. Korbin was released by his doctor to resume normal crazy, five year old boy activities this week and Brody should be cleared from his neurosurgeon next week! Now our focus is on Mrs. Kylee.

Most of you know Kylee has Hemiplegia Cerebral Palsy. Her grade 4 (most severe) brain bleed (IVH) on the right half of her brain has caused CP that affects the left side of her body, specifically her hand and leg/foot. After years of therapy, multiple Botox treatments and years of braces/orthotics, her condition is only worsening and her little foot is turning in more and more.

 After consulting with many doctors we've decided Kylee could greatly benefit from a tendon transfer. Dr. Mayfeild will be performing the SPOTT procedure tomorrow morning at Cooks Childrens in Fort Worth. SPOTT - Split Posterior Tibial Transfer. Dr. Acosta, her neurologist, targeted this specific tendon during her last Botox treatment (in May) and it had a BEAUTIFUL effect. Bad news, it only lasted 2-3 weeks. Good news tho is that it confirmed what her orthopedic surgeon had suspected was the problem. The fact that the Botox worked reassured him that that's where the work needed to be done. Botox is what some consider a "band aid" (which can help and last for months, just not in Kylee's case) and we're hoping if the surgery is successful, it will be a permanent fix...for her foot anyways. Bret and I take great comfort in knowing our doctors (neurologist, ortho surgeon, neurosurgeon and neuropsychologist) work closely together and often work as a team. We've handed our precious babies over to them before and know they're in great hands here at Cooks.  

Kylee, Bret and I are staying in a hotel tonight near the hospital. We live a bit aways from the hospital and Kylee needs to be there at 6:30am. Her surgery is scheduled for 8am and will last approximately 3 hours. After surgery, Kylee will be admitted and will hopefully be discharged Tuesday afternoon. Unlike her brothers', Kylee's recovery will be a bit of a hard one. She will be in a cast and will be in a wheelchair for 6-8 weeks. She will be out of school this week and should be able to return next week with her siblings. I personally have NEVER dealt with a cast and only a wheelchair when I was pregnant with them. Needless to say it will be an adjustment for us all, but especially Kylee. We've talked to her over the last few weeks and have explained things the best that we could. She knows she will have an IV, surgery and "get to be" in a wheelchair but she's most excited about the ice cream and balloons we promised her :)

When we came back from dinner, the sweet lady at the front desk had made a special basket just for Kylee with her name and all! Inside of it is lots of candy, popcorn, coloring books, playing cards, jewelry, cookies, word searches and more! SO sweet and was such a fun surprise for Kylee!

Here is the latest picture of Kylee's foot that I took tonight in the hotel... You can easily see more pics of her little foot, as well as see more history regarding her CP, by searching in the white box at the top left or the left side of the screen. Type in keywords such as "Botox, CP, Hemiplegia, AFO, Braces"...etc. and a list of posts should come up.

For now, we just ask that you say a prayer for our sweet girl. That she can be brave, that God guides the doctors during this tedious procedure and that her pain can be easily controlled during recovery. Bret and I will update everyone here tomorrow once she is out of recovery.

Thanks!

Christmas Tree Farm {2014}

We went back to the Ivanhoe Christmas Tree Farm with Chris and Bethany in search of this year’s Christmas tree and had a great time!

If you are local and haven’t been, GO! They have a great selection of beautiful trees at great prices! We walked out of there with an 11+ foot tall tree for $63! Here’s Kylee pointing out the one she wanted to take home!

 Baxlyn & Kylee. They’ve grown to love each other more and more over the last few weeks. Their room is filled with giggles and they’re full of “sister pride” lately. Just this afternoon they were trying to out-do each other with kindness. “I want Baxlyn  to pick the movie, Mom!” Kylee would say and then Baxlyn would be sure that Kylee saw she drew EXTRA hearts around Kylee’s name as they colored on the white board. If only it were this way 24/7 ;)

Brody & Baxlyn with a “tree” she carried around for a while before realizing we were serious when we said it was not coming home with us… This picture. Melt Me. Seriously, it is so so hard to get them to cooperate these days. A few certain ones who we won’t name (ahem, K & K) sport some pretty feisty attitudes from time to time. I was so thankful when they all put on smiles for this picture that turned out to be one I’ll cherish forever!

Korbin collecting pinecones. Does he not look like a young man in this picture? So handsome and so big!

Chris & Bethany find their 2014 Christmas Tree and seal the agreement with a kiss ;)

While the other three collect as many pinecones as their wee arms could hold, Brody helped Uncle Chris cut down their tree. Blade had been doing his best to keep up with everybody, falling every 10 feet or so due to the uneven ground. He noticed Chris and Brody laying down so came over and plopped right down next to them. So cute!

 Our family picture in front of the tree we chose!    Each year, Bret lets the kids help cut down our tree. This was Blade’s first year to get to help. His little face says it all…

Precious Baby <3

     My little Quadlings: Brody, Korbin, Baxlyn & Kylee

Our final product!

 

Now to get the rest of the house decorated before our BIG week ahead of us :/ Stay Tuned!