My List

I've seen this floating around the blogging world. Things that I have done are in BOLD print

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited the Bahamas

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Solved a Rubix Cube

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Went inside a pyramid

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Performed a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Flown a kite on the beach

14. Met a US president
15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

)28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo's The David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Fainted

53. Drove over 100 mph

54. Visited Grauman's Chinese Theater

55. Learned Sign Language

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Watched a space shuttle re-enter the Earth's atmosphere

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Earned an Eagle Scout award

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible~ working on this

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someones life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own (isn't that what this is?)There are many things on this list that I haven't done...and then again...there are many things that I have done that aren't on this list

Treasure

This past weekend I finally went to a antique/2nd hand store here in town. I had a limmited amout of time to be there without my boys and there was so much great stuff there. I could spend hours in there I swear. I was like a kid in a candy shop. I am a bargan shopper and when I find a good deal, it always tickles me PINK. The lamp above was 12.00. I fell in love with it. We recently painted our enclosed porch. I love our porch, it has about 11 windows, so its very nice. We have a leather couch in there and a couple chairs... Its my little retreat to read my books and drink my coffee in the morning. The porch is a work in progress, but painting alone make a huge difference. I also bought a beautiful victorian style mirror for 12.50 there...steal. I am so going back this weekend. I cant wait to turn one mans trash into my treasures.Well thats all.

Guilty Pleasures

Okay, who hasn’t hear of Twilight? Im not talking the time of day either. Im Talking about the movie, the book series, the phenomenon that’s sweeping the world. There is memorabilia everywhere you look, I think every store has the stuff. So I will get to my point. I have never been much of a follower of people, I tend to march to my own beat. And that suits me just fine. I don’t HAVE to like something just because a majority of people do, its just not me. The movie Twilight came out in November 08 I think? I never watched it. I say previews and thought it looked interesting, but I never set out to watch it or anything. I work in a office of all women, and all they talked about for the longest time was Twilight and the book series. So I figured okay, why not just rent the movie, see what all that fuss is about. Then I could truly have an informed opinion on the matter. So about a month ago I rented the movie. I really enjoyed it!! So I went and bought it. Then my boss says that the book is much better then the movie. And in most cases where movies are made after books, the books are much better. So I read Twilight…LOVE IT!! Its such a good read. And that really surprised the hell out of me, because I haven’t been much of a reader either. I found myself stealing any free moment I had to read as much as I could. I am a pretty busy person, so its hard to find the time. But I made it. So I went and bought the soundtrack to the movie also. Its pretty good to. I really like the song by Rob Patterson. So on Saturday I went and bought the second book of the series: New Moon. And it is even better then Twilight!! So yes, I am a walking contradiction. And I am now hook line and sinker…hooked to these books. I cant wait until the New Moon movie comes out. Also everyone at work said how cute Rob Pattinson was. I had seen pictures of him before and I definitely didn’t think he was hot. But once I saw the movie and read the book, my opinion changed. He is HOT!! I think its just that bad boy thing. But If you have read the book, then you just might understand what I mean. Plus what girl couldn’t use a little Edward Cullen in her life? I sure could!!!

Kameron's 4th Birthday, May 4th





Kameron's 4th birthday is coming up on May 4th. Its his golden birthday. We are having his party on May 3rd,its the only day no one has to work. But party planning is in full swing(thanks to me :)I wanted to give him a very special birthday party, for many reasons and this is only some:

1. Its his golden birthday

2. He is recently a new big brother & he gets left out sometimes(but he will always be my baby)

3. He starts preschool this year...( tear)

4. It will be his first birthday with his friends too, not just family

5. He deserves it

So those are just some of the reasons I want to make his party so special. Now back to my master plan. Its going to be Kameron's Carnival party. I went to walmart to look for invitations to buy...20 min later nothing could come close to what I imagined. For boys its all disneys car theme, batman, spider man..etc. I comptemplated making them myself. Which is a great idea and I love doing crafty things but with a full time job, 2 kids, hubby and a household who has the time?? But I decided I would make time!! So I bought different colored paper, some birthday stickers. Then I bought those annoying little birthday noise makers that you blow in and they come rolling out. The purpose for the noise makers was to take a pic of Kam in front of the green wall in his room holding the noisy thing..lol. So I took the pic of him and printed them off on my handy dandy little photo printer. Each invitation was a different color, although they all had the same pic of Kam they were all unique in their own way. I worked on them when I had a few min. to spare and a few stickers, cutting glueing and I was done. On the inside they said: Come one Come all to the greatest show on earth!! Kameron's 4th birthday party!! I am patting myself on the shoulder right now. Kameron loves them. So far the reviews have been good. Back to the party. Since its going to be carnival themed I hired a clown named Skittles. She is a girl clown and she is going to do balloon animals, magic tricks, etc... So I decided on the games would be the duck float, where you pick the ducks from the water, then a ring toss,and a balloon pop. Kids, darts, sharp...not a good idea so we are going to change that up a bit. We are going to use a board and put nails all through it, then have the nails sticking out facing us.Then the kids throw water balloons that will pop on the nails. I think it will work nicely. I also found the coolest carnival supply website. They are really affordable and have the best prizes. I ordered tons of stuff including the ring toss game, the ducks, and the pool, and big blow up animals for all the kids, all for 49.00. I spent that because you get free shipping if you spend 49.00 and up. So I am going to make each kid a great goodie bag instead of handing out prizes at each game to try to avoid meltdowns because one kid didnt get something. For food we will bbq burgers and hot dogs, and i am going to have popcorn for the kids in cute little bags, and I am renting a cotton candy machine. After all what carnival is complete without a cotton candy machine right? RIGHT :)So thats it for now as the planning continues and the party is in T-11 days!!!!I am so excited to see Kamerons face when he arrives at HIS carnival. Oh and about the cake I always just buy one from walmart for everyone, which I will do again this year. I always make Kameron his own little cake. So I am thinking of ideas for that, so stay tuned on my cake creation. Have a great weekend everyone. I am off to walmart.

Sinking In

Well Yesturday my mom watched the boys and she said Kolter kept escaping from his left shoe. So I called the doc and they said to double sock him on that foot. It helped but we still have to re adjust it often. I am grateful he doesnt have to wear casts anymore, I really am. But Im not sure that they were any worse then these stupid shoes with the bar. At least with the casts he could move both legs around. But now he has to move both legs together at the same time. I feel so bad for him. I can tell he gets aggitated by them. I have been snow boarding a couple of times in my life and Im sure for him thats what its like. I cant imagine having a snowboard attached to my feet all the time. But I know it could be much worse. I am very grateful that it isnt. I know it shall pass. I find myself alot lately thinking in my head: Dear God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference....

Kolters new bar and shoes

Just a cute picture of Kolter

Kolters Castings and new shoes in a nut shell

Right after his Tenotomy: he fell asleep :)

Kolter in his Casts

Below: Are Kolter's 1st set of casts

Today's date: April 13th 2009:

Since Kolter is almost 3 months old, Im going to post some blogs to catch up on our on going journey to correct Kolter’s feet using the Ponseti method. When Kolter was 2 weeks old he got his first set of casts put on. Each week the night before his appointment we soak the casts off ourselves. I like the method of soaking them off our selves better then having them use a loud saw to cut them off. He is going through enough already. Plus extra bath time is always a plus. His little feet stink so bad from those things. So every week for about 8 weeks he had a new set of casts put on, and each time the doctor turned his feet a little bit more, working towards normal. On march 4th 2009 he had a tenotomy. It was a in office procedure. Kolter’s doctor doesn’t recommend anesthesia for babies that small unless absolutely nessesary. So they gave him some numbing shots. I tried to stay in the room, but I couldn’t. I just sat in the hallway and balled my eyes out. Derrick is much better at dealing with that stuff. It was over very quickly and they casted his feet again the same day, these casts were to stay on for 3 weeks. So after 3 weeks we took him to get fitted for his shoes & bar. It would take about a week for them to come in so he had to get one last set of casts while we waited. When Kolter is on the floor and he gets excited he thumps his casts on the floor. Well this past weekend he got so excited that he finally cracked his cast in half!! It went all the way around just below his knee. It was still a little bit connected. And Dr. Shultz who is does Kolter’s casting is only in the office Mondays and Wednesday so I had to wait until Monday to call and see what we needed to do. The shoes should’ve been there by now. So I called yesterday morning about his casts and the Orthotic’s office called and said that his shoes were in and we could pick them up in the afternoon. So I was so excited to say the least. I took off work early to soak Kolter’s casts off. He was so relaxed when we soaked them off. But when the casts are off his feet are so sensitive from the lack of stimulation , that he gets pretty agitated for a little bit every time. So I wrapped him in his favorite blankie and he fell fast asleep. We live about 20 mins. From the doctor’s office and he slept the whole way there. Kameron got to stay back with his Aunt Stacy ( Derrick’s sister) because they were going on a adventure as Kameron calls them, to the park. The appointment was rather quick. The doctor gave us the instructions on how to work the shoes. He has to stay in them for 23 hours a day for a couple of months, then we will see what happens after that. The doctor said we could just put the shoes on when we got home to give him a break.

My pregnancy with Kolter Grant Lefler

This is baby Kolter in the womb

My pregnancy with Kolter was a complicated one. It was always one thing after another. After going in for my regular blood work done. I received a call from my doctor saying they found a antibody in my blood. I asked he what that meant and she said its something in my body that attacked the placenta as well as my major organs... I almosted passed out. She kept talking and all I heard was mumbles. So the plan of action was to wait a month and draw blood again to see if it was still there. Aparently some peoples bodies create antibodies to fight off sickness, so that could be a possibility for me as well. The doctor told me not to worry. Right, thats easy for her to say. The month seemed like a year. But the second round of blood work came back and it was gone!! So thats great news. So we were happy again, no worries. I was eagerly awaiting my ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. I prayed for a baby girl to dress up and do her hair and do all the mommy daughter things together. The day came, Derrick and I went in. I layed on the table, jelly on my belly and the technician scanned all around. She asked if we wanted to know the sex and of course we did!! She said its a BOY. I hate to admitt it, because it seems so silly and unimportant now but I got tears in my eyes. I was a little disapointed. Derrick wasnt because of course he wanted another boy. So the technician told us something else. She said it looked like he had club feet. Neither of us knew what that was. We were clueless. I went home and googled club feet. I figured out what they were and then looked at some pictures. My heart broke. I couldn't look anymore. I blamed myself. So I went in to the specialist to do another ultra sound to for sure confirm the club feet, which they did. They explained that with club feet babies can have different problems as well. So we did a Amniocentesis. We waited a couple weeks for the results, and they came back clear. So I was very grateful. We also met with a genetics counselor she said after his treatment he will be a normal boy that will run and play just like all the other kids. I broke down and she cried as well. I'm not sure if she knew it, but I wasn't crying because I was sad, I was crying because she had giving me a great peace with those words. As a parent all you want is for your children to be healthy. She was a great lady. So I read alot about the Ponseti casting method. It seemed the most common and effect way to treat club feet. So that's what I wanted done. So I enjoyed a couple more months and then was diagnosed with Gestational diabetes. So I had to poke myself several times a day and stick to a special diet..Yuck. My dad is a diabetic so I kinda knew how it all worked. I also now have a better understanding of what my dad goes through. But I know as hard as that pregnancy was, I am grateful as I know it could be alot worse

Kolter's Feet before his first casting



Kolter was born January 17th 2009 with bilateral club feet. We were already aware of his club feet because on our regular 20 week ultra sound, they noticed his feet. I had researched and looked at many pictures of babies with club feet. It broke my heart, and I really had to quit looking. I wasnt sure what to expect when he was born, and I wasnt sure how I was going to feel about it. But when he came out his feet were beautiful!! We called him our little monkey. He would tuck his legs up and his feet would come all the way up. He was special, and I knew that god brought him to us for a reason. We were going to do everything in our power to make sure this little guy had the best care in the world. So besides his club feet, he had no other medical problems. So we brought him home. Kameron was and still is beyound excited to have a little brother, he calls him George of the Jungle..lol Our family is now complete. I am far out numbered being the only girl in all, but I wouldnt have it any other way. So all we had to do is wait until he was 2 weeks old for his first set of casts.