It's a pirate life

Thad was at my mom's house for a week so we decided to redo his room! A friend of mine has a friend who is building her art business.  All we had to do is pay for the paint and she did it for FREE! 

It turned out so cute! It only took her a few days to paint.  

I painted this pirate map on canvas and think it turned out pretty darn cute! I used one of Thad's pirate maps for inspiration and copied it to the map.  I traced a few things but the rest was done free hand (and I'm not an artist!)  

I found this online, printed it and framed it.  It looks pretty cool in his room :)

I took his piggy bank that used to be light blue and painted it red and gave it an eyepatch.  Now he's a pirate pig!

We decided to rearrange his room and moved his bed against the other wall.  It makes the room a little bigger and shows off his pirate wall better.

I used his old lamp and removed the glued on circles it used to have.  I traced the pirate sword and crossbones on it to give it a new look.

Painted these cute frames and found the flag, pirate, etc. at Hobby Lobby.  

When Thad came home he was so surprised! He went and gave it a hug!  He wanted to know if he could go on the ship.  I'm really happy how everything turned out.  I think I'm more excited than anyone else but its fun to do these things for Thad.  He is such a good little boy and I like seeing the excitement on his face.  I really like that I could use his same things in his room and turn them into something new.  

Crazy Hail Storm

We had a crazy hail storm last week.  It hailed for over an hour at our house! It looked like snow coming down but it was a hard clunking sound!

Adam's poor car got hit but didn't do much damage.

Oliver liked looking outside at it.  He was fascinated by it!

This was our backyard.  It looked like piles of snow on the ground.

It damaged a few of Thad's toys and put holes through them.

This was the next day.  We don't have a tree in our yard so it wasn't as bad as some of our neighbors yards.  It still took a few hours to clean everything up.  A few miles from our house it was flooding and people had to get rescued from their cars.  It was crazy! This storm wasn't nearly as bad as a tornado and still caused a lot of damage.  I feel so bad for the people who have their house demolished by a flood or tornado and couldn't imagine loosing everything the way they do.  

Fun Painting

Shayna, my niece is here for two weeks! I took her to this fun Paint studio so she could paint a picture for her room.  

It is a really neat studio where they give you tons of ideas on what to paint and let you go free! Shayna  chose a flower picture to paint and I did this flowers and vase picture.  I love it! I think it turned out pretty neat and it looks great against my red wall.

My aunt Sue and cousin Emily went with us.  

Shayna was so proud of her picture.  

All the finished products! It's very addicting and I'm already wanting to go back! 

Thad's Cardiologist check up

Thad had his cardiologist check up today.  It has been one year since our last visit.  Even though we only go once a year now it is torture to get him to lay still for the echo.  He is VERY dramatic and always makes a big production out of it!  He managed to stay still for a bit but kept asking "are you done yet?"

After the echo is the EKG, that is another dramatic event.  It was a little better this time because he counted the stickers as she was putting them on.  He also liked helping her take them off.  

This picture says it all! He dislikes the blood pressure the most.  He doesn't like to lay down on the table.  When she was taking the blood pressure and squeezing his leg he says to her "hey, not so tight. You are going to break my leg!" That was probably the funniest thing I heard today. He was so serious when he said it too.

After all of that he was fine.  We waited anxiously for Dr. Brames to come in and give us the results!

He likes Dr. Brames.  He is never afraid of him and lets him listen to his heart.  

The good news is not much has changed with Thad's heart function in the past year.  Dr. Brames saw a little narrowing in his aortic arch where they repaired his coarctation.  That is to be expected and at this point nothing will have to be done to correct it.  His mitral valve is a little leaky but still doing the job.  Dr. Brames predicts sometime throughout Thad's life he will have to have his mitral valve replaced.  Right now he rates it a 5.  When it gets to a 15 is when he will have to have the valve replaced.  I'm praying for years and years down the road for that! All in all, Thad is doing great! No big changes and we go back in one year.  I'm glad we are on the yearly schedule.  I don't know if I can take the 2-3 year checkups just yet.

We always have to get a picture of the two of them.  Dr. Brames has been through everything with us.  He was our cardiologist with Emma and has followed all three kids.  We are lucky to have him as Thad's cardiologist.

And we always have to get a "cheesy" smile picture!

We are so thankful for how well Thad is doing.  He is such a blessing!

Oliver's 1st Plane Ride

Oliver got to take his first plane trip last weekend.  I was very nervous and not looking forward to it but once again he proved me wrong and was so GOOD! I am the co-coordinator for our local Mended Little Hearts of Colorado Springs group.  They have a national conference every year where all the coordinators for MLH groups around the U.S. get together and share ideas.  It was a busy weekend filled with meetings and networking but I am so glad I was able to go.  We got some great new ideas to bring back to our group.  

One of the flight attendants in the airport gave Ollie this cute little frog animal.

Getting ready to board the plane! We went to Dallas so it was a quick hour and a half flight.  He loved looking out the window and the air blower that was coming from the ceiling.  I packed way to much in my carry on because I wasn't sure what I would all need to entertain him.  All he needed was a sippy cup and a few snacks! He fell asleep right after we landed in Dallas and slept while we maneuvered through the airport.  

Since I was attending meetings throughout the weekend we had to hire a nanny in Dallas to look after Ollie.  It was great, she came to our hotel and stayed with him in the room.  We had the same nanny all 3 days.  I was a little worried since he has never been with anyone else but again he did just fine.  He cried a bit when I left but calmed down once I was out of sight.  He was so worn out that he slept all night the first night we were there.  That was nice!

 Checking out the view from our hotel room.

I had some help on the trip which made it much easier.  Mary, my co-coordinator went to the conference as well.  

I love this picture of him looking out the window.  I wonder what he was thinking!

He had a busy weekend too and fell asleep right before we landed.  He was a tired boy when we got home and slept the whole night again. (I could get used to that!)

It was a great trip and even better for Oliver's first time flying.  I was a little worried Thad would be jealous that Oliver got to fly before him.  We made sure we brought Thad back lots of souvenirs! 

The world of Thad

Thad recently played indoor soccer through the Y.  I think he had a better time last year playing when it was outdoors.  This time he just wanted to stand on the court and watch the ball go by him!  I wasn't able to go to the game that had the team pictures so I had no idea what to expect with his pictures.  Here is his soccer picture.  I can't stop laughing when I see this picture.  What a NUT! It doesn't even look like him.  It looks like his hair is like a helmet and that crazy little cute smile he's giving is so darn sweet.  Every time I need a good laugh I look at this picture!

Showing off his soccer medal.

Last week was Thad's last day of Preschool.  He went two days a week for a few hours.  I am really glad we put him in preschool this year.  He has learned a lot and it gave him a chance to meet and play with other kids.  Next year he will go to Pre-K five days a week for half days.  I'm glad we have the summer to relax and hang out!

Thad and Ms. Gloria.  Thad loves Ms. Gloria, every day on the way to school he would ask if she would be there.  One day she was gone and it was almost a melt down at school! I have all summer to prepare him that she won't be his teacher next year!

Preschool class of 2012!

The preschool class had the option of getting their handprints.  I really wanted one of both the boys so she was able to put Oliver's and Thad's handprints on the tile.  It turned out really good! It will be a nice keepsake.

We went to a rock star birthday party for one of Thad's friends.  He made a cute little rock star.  I found a jean jacket and cut the sleeves off and put AC/DC on the back and made his shirt.  We found some green hair spray and gave him a little mohawk.  He picked out a few tattoos and he was set!

Love this face!

Cool dude.

Thad has been such a big help and is a such a great big brother.  Being 4 is sooooo much better than age 3! We don't have as many meltdowns and he listens to what we say.  I like that he can talk to me and have a conversation and understands what is happening.  He is still a very sensitive boy and I'm okay with that!