Extra prayers for Brock

A couple of posts ago I asked you to pray for Brock, a little boy in the hospital who was just diagnosed with leukemia. Brock really needs your prayers right now. Also, please pray for his family as they go through this very scary time. Please read the link below to read the latest update on Brock. Thank you.
Brock's Caring Bridge Page

Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza '09!

One of my fondest memories from childhood is carving a pumpkin with my dad every Halloween. I love looking at the pictures of each year to see the two of us planning our pattern, me watching him cut it out, and the two of us posing with it at the end.
Well, I decided that for Hayden I would take it one step further. Hayden got to pick out three pumpkins and carve one each with Daddy, Pa-Pa and Chippy. We are so blessed to have such a close family where all seven of us get together to do things all the time. What memories Hayden will have someday. I thought it would be neat for Hayden's Halloween tradition to be carving pumpkins with her daddy and her two grandfathers. I dressed Hayden up in her Halloween shirt I made her and we went to a church here in Edmond that sells pumpkins for her to pick out the three she wanted.This is what I got when I asked her to give me a happy smiley face:I love it! Here's a closeup of the shirt in case anyone wants to make one.I made turkey bean chili in the crockpot, set my table, and lit my pumpkin spice candles. I LOVE Fall! My table quickly went from this:To this:Hayden and Pa-Pa got to work on a classic Jack-o-lantern. (Just like the ones Dad and I used to make together)Hayden worked on her own pumpkin.

Daddy and Chippy are hard at work on theirs.Pa-Pa finishes his!Yuck!Being silly with Mommo and Mimi:Chippy is all done!Check them out!

My dad carved Hayden's name into the back of his pumpkin.I LOVE this picture. How neat it will be to take one of these every year. The pumpkins are now in place on the front porch:
Now without the camera flash:Perfect!

Thank you, grandparents, for making this a fun evening for Hayden (and for me!). I'm sure her memories over the years of pumpkin carving will be just as wonderful as mine.

This next trip down memory lane is just for you, Dad. (Killer wallpaper, by the way, Mom)

The "Hallelujah Chorus" is playing in my head!

Ok, people! Those must have been some strong prayers you were sending up after my last post because Hayden got her swine flu vaccine today!!!!!! I went to her school this morning with the other home room mom to do an art project with the kids. It is part of our Festifall school fundraiser. Each class is do to a themed basket and a group project to be auctioned off. We chose for the class to make Christmas ornaments. Hayden normally would have been there and it made me so sad that she was missing it. Every now and then I would hear a child ask one of their teachers where Hayden was. Her friends miss her and she really misses them too. I left there this morning determined to find her a vaccine. I didn't care what I had to do or where I had to go, she was getting one! I first called her CF doctor to once again be told that theirs didn't arrive today either (big surprise) and to call back on Monday. Unfortunately they nurses have no idea when it's coming, they just keep being told by the state health department that they will get it. Well Monday wasn't going to work for me. I then called the cystic fibrosis clinic at Children's Hospital where Hayden used to go and talked to their head nurse, Debbie. Yeah, they didn't have them either. They've been getting the same story from the state. So then I called the Oklahoma County Health Department. That got me nowhere. "Hunny, you're gonna have ta take her to the open clinic like everybody else." "Maam, she has cystic fibrosis. I can't take her out to stand with 3,000 sick people for hours." "Well I don't know what to tell you." "Well, can't I just bring her to the health department office to get one?" "Nope. There's no one working today." "Obviously there are since you answered the phone" "Not the kinda people who can help you". Ugggghhhh! I got absolutely nowhere and was very upset by the time I got off the phone. What I wanted to yell at her is that I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the state will open up clinics to huge groups of the public before they've taken care of the people with underlying conditions who need it the most. SERIOUSLY! Just give the CF doctor 50 vials and go about your business with your free clinics!!! Or at least have a place at your office where we can take our children without exposing them to a bunch of stuff. Is that too much to ask!?!?!? Well, by this time I was a very determined momma. I was getting ready to call the state health department when i decided to get some ideas from my mom on where I should call. "Why don't you call the Logan county health department?" "You don't have to live in that county to receive the vaccine?" "I don't know. It's worth a try." I thought to myself before I made that call that if they didn't have it, I would get on the phone and call every county in Oklahoma until I found one. Hey, my grandparents in Kay county would love a visit, I'm sure. "Yes, my daughter has cystic fibrosis and I've been trying for over a month to find her a swine flu vaccine, and I've had her out of school and nobody in Oklahoma county has been helpful or can get it and I don't know if you have the injection or not ....(rambling)...but do you have any swine flu vaccines?" (please, Lord, please, Lord...) "Sure, we have some" WHAT! Just like that! "Do I have to be a Logan county resident?" "Nope, just come on up. But we close at 11:30 for lunch and don't open until 1pm. I would tell you to come then but we are usually pretty crowded so you might want to bring her later." I glanced at my clock and it was 11:03. I threw Hayden in the car and drove my little heart out up to Guthrie. It was 11:30 when I exited off the highway and I called them and was prepared to beg and plead that they stay open five more minutes until we could get there. "You're fine, hunny, just come on in." I teared up on the phone. Thank you, God for Logan county and their completely sweet and understanding nursing staff. Bless them. We made it and within 5 minutes she was vaccinated and we were headed to McDonalds. If only I had thought to call Logan county four weeks ago! Or even three, or two.... Anway, the important thing is that she has it. They said 7-10 days before she's fully protected against the virus so no school next week either, but that's ok. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that after a fun-filled week of Halloween parties and trick-or-treating she will get to go back and be surrounded by her friends and learn new things from her teachers. She is a social little thing and this has been hard on her. Get ready kids! Hayden's gonna be back soon!

Back from NYC

Well, I'm back from a very successful shopping trip to New York City. This is an annual "event" for me, my mom and my mother-in-law (yes, we all get along that well and, yes, I know how blessed I am). We have been going every Fall Break for about six years. This year my friend Kristin went with us and she is officially part of the NY group now. I laughed as she said, "Not to make this awkward for you guys or anything but, I'm coming back next year". We would have invited her anyway. I think she can actually outshop us and the girl even had a back injury. Kristin and I became fast friends over the summer. She and Ryan went to school together and our moms teach together. Any time I would write a CF fundraising email, my mom would forward it to KayDell who would forward it to Kristin knowing she would know Ryan from high school. So for a few years she read emails about Hayden and, one day last winter, Ryan, Hayden and I ran into her and her girls at Unpluggits. We exchanged "Hello, nice to meet you"s and that was it. When my CF walk email went out in May I got an email back from her saying they had made a donation and that she and her girls would love to get together for a playdate. And that was it. On that very first playdate we had each other at "I make hairbows" (her) and "I made my upholstered headboard" (me). If we go a day without at least three text messages (we prefer talking but we have three kids between us!) then something is wrong. Don't even get me started on how much I love her girls and how much love there is going on between them and Hayden. She is a blessing in my life and I love her. So anyway, I don't usually take any pics on our NYC trip but I took a few. The first is of the Brooklyn Bridge and the others are just random pics either in the car or the airport. The last pic, you know, the extremely flattering one, is a perfect representation of what Xanax does to you while you are waiting for you plane. It's the only way we can fly without panic attacks. See, we were meant for each other.

Wow, that's a pretty one of me.

In other news, Hayden has her first modeling job this Thursday. She and I will be doing a photo shoot for Hobby Lobby modeling fleece fashions. The photos will be featured on one of the idea brochures they have hanging around the store. Last I checked, a pic of my head is still dangling from the aisle where they sell all the beads wrapped in a beaded head scarf. It's kinda weird to be shopping on that aisle and have your face staring back at you the whole time. Anyway, look for it around the fleece sometime this winter.

Lastly, a prayer request. Please pray that the swine flu vaccine will actually make it to Hayden's CF doctor this week. I have had her pulled from school for three weeks now thinking she was going to get the vaccine a while back. If this flu can kill healthy children it can certainly put a CF child in the hospital very quickly and I haven't been willing to risk it. Well, each week they either haven't made enough, it went to the state health dept. first, they got the mist that people with underlying conditions can't have instead of the injection etc. etc. I really want her to be able to go back to school. She is getting bored with me and she really misses her friends. The health dept. told Dr. Reyes that he would be getting some injections this week but they couldn't say when. Please pray that this actually happens, that Hayden gets one, and that she can go back to school.

That's all for now.

Holiday Cards

Some of you already know this but, for those of you who don't, I have a little business on the side I call Polkadot Daisy. I do holiday photo cards, birth announcements, birthday and shower invitations etc. Since the holidays are fast approaching I thought I would post some of my designs to give you an idea of what I do. If there is a design you like I can add your pics and info to it but I especially like custom orders where you tell me what style and colors you like and I can design something new. Pricing for a 4x6 is $1.00 a piece and 5x7s are $1.50 a piece, both with a minimum order of 30 cards. If you are interested in getting pricing for cardstock invitations or glossy cardstock Christmas cards just let me know. The above pricing is for photo paper. The first Christmas card you see was ours from last year. I designed it as two separate glossy postcards and they were held together in the top corner by a snowflake-shaped brad. Here are some designs:
Thanks for looking!

There's no such thing as a chance meeting

Do you ever have those moments where you can instantly tell that God put you there? Sometimes it is for your benefit and sometimes it is to help others. Today was one of those days for me.
I take Hayden to gymnastics on Thursday mornings and, even though I have pulled her from school, something told me to keep taking her to "nastics". She has made a new friend in class this session and her name is Jaycee. This session has been going on for weeks and I have always noticed Jaycee's mom and little brother but, until last week, we had never spoken.
Last week I decided to sit near her and strike up a conversation. She was very nice and her little boy, Brock, who will soon be a year old, is completely adorable. We got onto to the subject of swine flu and about how scary it is for those of us with small children. I mentioned that Hayden has cystic fibrosis and that I had pulled her from school. She asked me some questions about Hayden and her story and we continued on with the normal chit chat until class was finished.
This morning at class I sat down behind her and joyfully announced I had gotten my new Ballard Designs catalog in the mail and that I had brought it along to look through during class. It never got opened.
She turned to me and instantly told me that Brock had been diagnosed with luekemia over the weekend. Tears welled up in my eyes immediately as I listened to her tell me that he had suddenly, just since last week, developed a pin-prick looking rash, blood blisters in his mouth, and bruises on his face that couldn't be explained. Within a weekend their life had changed.
She told me that she still came to class because they were trying to keep everything as normal as possible for Jaycee. Brock has already started blood transfusions and chemo and it is a lot for their family to get used to, especially a three-year-old little girl.
There was such strength in Vanessa. She talked about her faith and how it is getting them through. Some people would fall apart but here she was at Oklahoma Gold not even a week later, talking to me about it while she let her little girl jump on the trampolines and swing from the trapeze for some normalcy.
She looked at me and said, "I don't mean this to sound weird, like I'm glad Hayden has CF or anything, but I am so glad that you were here and that you have been in this position because you understand what I'm going through." She knew that I understood the pain you feel when a doctor tells you there is something wrong with your child-that I have felt that fear and have experienced that heartache. We talked about how we had both had an intuition during pregnancy that something wasn't quite right. We talked about prayer, and how you can't fully explain to someone who hasn't experienced it that you can actually feel the love and prayer surrounding your child and your family. How it can bring you an unexplicable calm in what is your hardest hour.
I don't know that Vanessa and I really have much in common. She said she used to be a high school math teacher. To say that math is a challenge for me would be a major understatement. But instantly we do have something in common. We are bonded by something we would never have chosen to be a part of but are making the best of.
I looked at her and told her something my mom told me after Hayden's diagnosis. "God chose you to be Brock's parents. He picked you to take care of His son because He knew you could do it. He knows your strength." "I know", she replied.
I know full well that everything in life is part of God's plan. With Hayden's CF it has been shown to me over and over again. In talking to Vanessa I can tell she knows it too.
Please pray for Brock. Thank you.

Catching Up!

Ok, let's see.....what has been going on since the last time I posted....Well, first off, Hayden had school pics at the end of last month. I made sure to take some with my camera before school. Since the background was in autumnal colors, I thought this shirt would be cute and I added (read: hot glued) the orange crocheted flower to an existing headband. I think she looked pretty cute but since the pictures were going to be after recess there's no telling what her hair looked like in the end.
I am going to NYC in a week and a day!!!! Yay! There's nothing more I really have to say about that one, I guess.

I decided to pull Haydie out of school until she can get her swine flu vaccine. I have already had her out about a week and I thought she was going to get vaccinated this week. Unfortunately, the first round of vaccines that were delivered this yesterdat are in nasal mist form. People with underlying conditions, like Hayden, can't do the mist and instead need to wait TWO MORE WEEKS for the injection. I'm still trying to figure out why, considering the people with underlying conditions were supposed to be the first to need and receive the shot, they first made a version that those people can't even have! Anyway, I absolutely hate it for her that she isn't getting to go to school. I'm also kind of missing my alone time a wee bit (understatement), but I am trying to come up with fun and creative things to do around here so she doesn't get bored and I don't go insane. :)

Yesterday we went to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". It was cute but I lost her about half-way through. It was her first time seeing a movie in the actual theatre so I didn't know how she would do. I also picked up a bunch of library books and I think I will probably switch them out every three days or so to keep it new.

I think this afternoon we will probably make some cookies together and then I'm sure I will precede to eat them all. I'm pretty gifted in cookie eating. I can take down two cookie sheets of No Bake cookies in no time. Not that I ever have.....just saying....;)

Something fun that we did this morning was a tissue paper art kit that I got at Best of Books for about $10. It was really easy for Hayden to do and she and I had a lot of fun with it. You peel off the paper bit by bit, scrunch up the tissue paper squares, and stick it to the shape. Here's some pics of the process and her masterpieces:

Ryan and I are chairing the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Breath of Life Gala again this year. We have LOTS of money still to raise in order to meet our goal. Ninety cents of every dollar donated to this foundation goes straight to medical research. I won't get on my soapbox right now but, the medical advances for CF are amazing right now. There is a drug in stage 3 clinical trials that will be life-changing for Hayden. She will be able to take three pills a day and do no other treatments! It will correct the underlying defect rather than just treating the symptoms. She should no longer even have a mucus problem on this drug. It will be almost as if she doesn't even have CF! We need this drug to make it but it takes funding!

There, that was a mini version of my speech :) The gala is November 13th. If anyone wants tickets or would like to donate just let me know!

Let's see, what else...I have a modeling job the next two nights at the Skirvin greeting people from 9 to midnight and a photo shoot tomorrow afternoon for The Oklahoman. I am going to be sooo tired! But hey, if they want to pay me a very nice hourly amount to stand there with a smile on my face and say "hi" to people, I'm all for that. I think I'm going to check out Mistletoe Market on Friday and then I'm doing Race for the Cure on Saturday morning. I'm sure I'll have some pics from that. We are walking in honor of my mom's best friend, Donna, who just recently found out that she had breast cancer. She is cancer-free now as they caught it in time.

I think that's all. I'm pretty sure this might have been my most exciting post yet. Or maybe not.