We should all do a little better!!!

**Warning..I ramble a LOT here!!

After reading the Starkville Daily News articles on the fires Monday I have just become more and more heartbroken for these families. I am such a worrier and I worry about those surviving this tragedy. I know I can pray..but those of you that know me well...know I want to be right there holding their hands and I don't even know them!! It has frustrated me to the depths of my soul that there is a comment about "no maintenance complaints are recorded" from any of these people. I understand they've written both sides of the story, tenants say they've complained numerous times, and landlord says there is no record. I appreciate both sides speaking their peace about it...but I feel it's insinuated that since there is no record they must not have complained.
To me, if the neighbors were having to sleep with an oven on to stay warm at night bc the central heating unit wasn't working...surely they complained to someone!!!! Especially when they pay rent and fixing the repair would not be their cost. My first thought was, "just because you don't have a record doesn't mean they didn't complain!! Someone just didn't write it down!!" Which would be a reason it would take weeks for repairs...no good records on file!!

I'm really tired of peoples lack of efforts to help one another in this society...especially when they're being paid to do a job! In the last year or so I've been ran over so many times by people that were ugly, unprofessional, rude, down right mean, and those people were in jobs of customer service and the medical field. I won't let it happen anymore that's for sure!!
Almost everyone reading this would never have known this happened, but in April of this year I had a HORRIBLE experience with Dr. Cain at our hospital. I sat on the edge of a bed while Drew laid in his hospital bed with pneumonia and asked Dr. Cain for help. I asked for help changing to a local oxygen company and he refused..saying he didn't know "those people" and he wasn't calling them. I began to cry after asking for his help in a few different ways, explaining I was not a medical physician and he was NOT helping me...I expressed he had gone to medical school, yet he pointed to the wall where Drew's oxygen was hooked up and said, "I know nothing about that stuff there up on that wall"..another family member in the room stopped me and thanked Dr. Cain for all the help we had received, but told him I had taught myself everything I knew so far with Drew and I was only asking for help in another direction. My family member asked what Dr Cain would do if this were his child or grandchild..Dr. Cain said and I do quote, "I don't know, that there means nothing to me"!! And he left the room!! He did all of this with myself, another family member, Drew, and a nurse in the room...so it's sure no secret that he did this bc we all heard him loud and clear. You all have NO clue how much I complained to Administration..have they done anything NO!!! I've had a meeting, written a letter, made phone calls, and NOT so much as an I'm Sorry has come from anyone!!!! There is a little more to the conversation that morning but you get the point..it was so uncalled for!!! There are at least 4 members of Administration that could have made efforts to do something about this and they've done NOTHING!!! That doesn't mean Dr. Cain didn't do something wrong..it just means they let my complaints sit on their desks!! But that's okay, I keep SUPER records on the subject..so let them be lazy!
You never know what can happen if you let the ball drop in your court. People are complaining because there is a problem. Not because it's fun and they want you to have a bad day. Take people seriously..listen to their troubles...you never know when God was testing you!

*I used to think putting it out there was the wrong thing to do...almost as if I was bad mouthing Dr Cain. But you know, he sure didn't care about being ugly to Drew and me!!

This morning, I sit at the table with busy little boys and girls riding their toys in circles around me. My coffee is cold, but the warm strawberry croissants were great! It has been weeks since I made time for the blog...I'll have to do some picture posting and decorating for sure.

I have been under so much stress the last few weeks. The weather wasn't so nice out...so guess what that means...me and 4 small kids INSIDE! I've been a crazy woman, lol. Last week things started getting better. We went for wagon rides together....which was super nice. Drew is big enough to sit in the wagon now and Hollise is small enough to sit in the seat with him.

Ok...the kids are using the couch cushions as a trampoline...so I better go. I'll try blogging again this afternoon.

Tastefully Simple Open House!!!

Tomorrow is my Fall, Tastefully Simple Open House. I can't wait to see how things go...this will give me more ideas for the future. Everything is coming together so fast that I am sure to forget something. For those of you that have never heard of or tried Tastefully Simple, this is an awesome way to taste the products!! All of our products are "Open & Enjoy" or add one or two ingredients. The dips come in large seasoning style containers. This is really nice because you are able to cook with them as actual seasonings and use them as a dip. TastefullySimple.com provides over 200,000 recipes for our products....so you really can put them to good use in your kitchen.

Tomorrow we will be tasting the following items, and more:

*Truffle Fudge Brownies
*Absolutely Almond Pound Cake
*Bountiful Beer Bread
*Rhubarb Strawberry Fruit Spread
*Raspberry Syrup
*Key Lime Ball
*Apply Crisp Ball
*Spinach & Herb Dip
*Sweet Bell Pepper Dip
*Oh So Olive Dip
*Cheesy Chive Warm Dip
*Mulling Spice

And plenty more. All of our items will offer a nice change to your tailgate snacks!! Also, everyone stopping by will get there name in "the pot" for chances to win the Mystery Host Rewards. More chances in the pot for those placing orders. The Drawing will be held at 1:00 pm. Hope to see you there!!!

Of course you can always check out our products and order online at: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mtehan

Location:

Our Home
100 Edgewood Dr.
Starkville, MS
for directions: tehantriplets@yahoo.com

She's at it again....

*notice the hello kitty socks
Hollise is really into dressing herself these days. If I would let her wear these stripped pants everyday she would do it! So, finally I took the hint and bought her some new leggings this weekend, ha. Yesterday she found a box of clothes from their first birthday. She pulled out all the clothes (yes, i keep birthday outfits) and started layering things on. The child put on her birthday sweatshirt she wore to Harvey's on their actual Birthday....it was just a little small!

This morning I had everyone in the living room to get dressed...everything happens in the living room. I hear Houston say REALLY FAST, "picked a pepper-picked a pepper-picked a pepper, he ran away with the spoon, ha-ha he went up and fell down and broke it". He was looking at his Mother Goose book, lol. He actually listens to me...such a rewarding feeling. Oh...and I loved it when he said "Muffet is scared of that spider"...me too baby!

A fly on the wall...

I wish so many of you could just peek in on us during our day. Hannah, Hollise, and Houston are so funny to watch while they interact with each other. They're so smart!! And at first I thought..pat on the back to me and Alan...we're really teaching them things in the midst of the craziness! I'm not sure that's what is happening, lol.

They see something they aren't sure about and they figure it out together. Since there is more than one child watching Mickey Mouse Club House they talk to each other out loud when helping Mickey decide which "mouse-ka-tool" would work best. Or the City work trucks. I had no clue there was a garbage truck, sweeper truck, and a truck that picked up your tree limbs and such. Well, my kids will let you know real quick there is a difference!! Houston says, "see, it's real close to the edge bc it's sweeping up the street". I didn't teach him this, he just figures it out. Such smart children!! Now I have to help them keep up these good learning habits! Hopefully we'll be able to put them in preschool next August.

Lately we've been meeting friends (cousins really) at the park twice a week. The kids LOVE this and Drew really enjoys watching them play. I take his walker with us so he can stand and see them better. Maybe it will be nice later in the week and we'll have a picnic.

Tomorrow I'm taking Houston back to Dr Heck's for x-rays. I'm sure everything will be great. I am a little concerned about his cast going in the dirty pool last week, but YAY for being able to get a new one tomorrow. I am assuming we will get another one....maybe not.

Drew had been pretty sick over the weekend, but is doing much better today. Still off oxygen!!

Happy Monday everyone!

Gap Casting Call

Good Morning Everyone...I finally have everyone up on the Gap Casting Call. Well, I do have to put Drew's pic up today!! I just took a good one yesterday. You can go to GapKids.com and Click on Casting Call. You'll have to create a free Log In or you may already have a Disney Log In since Disney is Hosting this year. Either way, you can vote once a day until November 17!!! We just put them up so we only have a few votes....some kids have almost 2000 votes...so serious voting to be done people, come on!!! :) lol

You can search by typing in my parent ID: tripletsplusmom

Or by typing in one of the kids photo ID's, not sure the girls pics are approved for voting yet:

949503334
529503534
329503488
599503150

Onto the kids....

Drew is going everywhere in his walker!!! The little guy loves to sneak up on us. Right now he's in his walker lined up with Hannah and Houston watching Mickey Mouse. I catch him just watching Houston, he thinks he's so funny! Drew has now been off oxygen 3 wks!!! He's doing great and really having a growth spurt, finally. His little personality is growing every day. With the oxygen, I now see that his body was almost always resting (mind & body). He's really starting to come out of his shell. We go back to Pulmonary on Oct 22, but I'm trying to change to the Tupelo Clinic bc there are TONS of Swine Flu cases at LeBonheur. I know we can pick it up anywhere, and washing hands is best, but really...why walk right into it, ya know. I have other options and that's what I'm going with. It may take a little longer to get in there, but that's just fine.

Hollise is developing some crazy habits! The girl is doing all sorts of crazy things in her sleep. Two nights ago she sat up in her bed screaming as if someone was after her. I walked in, she was sound asleep!!!! I laid her down and she was out cold...never made another sound. At least twice a week she's waking up in different clothes than she went to bed in. Really it's only happened twice I think, but in the past wk. She's changing clothes A LOT during the day and walking around in a hat all the time now. Maybe she's just really into fashion, I don't know. But she's super cute doing it!

Hannah, my goodness she's a little mother. Don't do this, do this now, don't point at me, don't spank me, move, no you right now...what am I to do with this one. Oh...and Houston just got her good!! He took her paci and said, "no more paci!". She's down to one paci and I'm all for her loosing that thing. She goes through good times and bad with it...right now she won't let it go. But I'm hoping Santa Claus will take it with him, :)

Houston has got to stop eating paper!!! Seriously the boy is like a goat. He's doing great with his arm, but yesterday I did have some trouble with him. He dunked his entire cast arm in the kiddie pool!!! Which had water from the past two wks of rain and was just nasty water. I'm sure almost everyone saw this coming at some point..but UGH!! They didn't want him in a waterproof cast bc he DIDN'T need to get his arm wet. There is a surgery incision in there that's only been unwrapped to get air for about 20 mins and it just doesn't need nasty water all over it. I tried texting my brother in law, brian (he does casts) but couldn't get him. So, I took a hair dryer to it, lol. It stinks, but worked.

Okay, off to get the kiddos dressed and playing.

Vote for Houston!!!!

My cousin Rosemary has reminded me about the Gap Casting Call!!! I LOVE entering my kids, lol. I just entered Houston and after looking over some of my photos I'll enter Hannah, Hollise, and Drew this weekend. I just happen to like the pic of Houston I entered and recently put it on my computer. So I'm not playing favorites, promise :)

You can vote for Fan Favorites!!! Houston's Picture ID is: 599503150

So go to the Gap Casting Call on the GapKids web page and Vote for Houston...others to come :)

Fundraiser Time!

For the month of October I'm offering Fundraisers through Tastefully Simple! This is super easy for everyone involved. We now offer email catalogs, online shopping, and little work efforts left up to individual(s) holding the Fundraiser. Products are shipped directly to customers...which means Parents don't have tons of sorting to do in the end.

Great for Individual Classroom Fundraisers, Ball Teams, Fire Departments, other Public Service Agencies, etc. How do you earn your money?? Instead of receiving Free Host Products, you get the cash!!! Ask me for details, this will be awesome and a FUN Event for those wanting to participate. October is coming up soon, so let me know if you're interested.

Thanks,

Michelle Tehan
tehantriplets@yahoo.com

My First 40 Days is almost up!!!

As of Friday, September 25, I will have completed my First 40 Days as a Tastefully Simple Consultant. Because of so many of you, these first 40 Days have been much more than expected! I have been able to introduce Tastefully Simple to family, friends, and I have even made a few new friends. You're finding out how easy these products really are to make and fit into your everyday life. People are asking for your new recipes and Tastefully Simple is becoming a pantry staple in Starkville.

All products are add one or two ingredients, or open and enjoy! We have breads, desserts, appetizers, snacks, main dishes, gifts, seasonings, you name....we have it!!! By the end of this week I will have completed my First 40 Day, Company Goal of 4 Parties in 40 Days. I am SO close to reaching my Product Sales Goal as well!!! Now is a great time to try these new products. Check out my web site:
www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mtehan
You can purchase directly through the web site and you will have these delicious products in your home in about 6 days. If you order early tomorrow morning, chances are you can have your products in by Friday or first thing Saturday morning. Just in time for Tailgating. Please do contact me anytime with questions or products orders. I'm always happy to help.

Thank you again,

Michelle Tehan
tehantriplets@yahoo.com

****Also, New Consultant Blast Off Kits are available for only $99 until the end of September. This is a huge savings and tons of goodies inside. Enough products for yourself and your first four parties. Ask me how to become a New Consultant if you're interested.

On to the kiddos...

Hannah, Hollise, Houston, and Drew are fabulous!

Hannah is becoming seriously chatty, yes...more than even me. I don't know how that's possible, but the girl can't be quiet lately.

Hollise decided she needed a little more attention last Thursday. She climbed onto the table, buckled herself into Drew's table-top high chair, couldn't get herself out...and I asked her to wait a minute bc I was cooking....so little stinker scooted herself right off the table!! No, I'm not kidding. So..another Tehan trip to the ER because her left foot was swelling and she couldn't wiggle her toes. No broken bones, thank goodness!!! But they (er staff) thought she was going to be pretty bruised and possibly not want to walk the next morning. Whatever..the girl still isn't walking. I do feel bad for my sweet girl, she's crawling everywhere and the bruises on her foot are coming to the surface just today. It's not fun!

Houston is back to being the sweetest little guy ever. He's such a thoughtful child. Full of life and loving his Basketball and Soccer. He's really gotten into soccer with his arm hurting. I'm telling you, the child is super talented. I don't know many two year olds that would still practice their dribbling (is that a word?) with a long arm cast on.....and actually walk around while dribbling. Crazy, but he's so good at it.

Drew, has been OFF oxygen 2 full wks now. He has also had a pretty good growth spurt! I'm excited about his checkup later this week to see how much he's grown. He's crawling a little, saying da-da when HE wants to, and he'll give his Daddy high-5, lol

This week has been a turning point for my boys. Houston's attitude has really changed for the better. The entire summer Alan and I watched him get aggravated, angry, and frustrated with almost everyone, about everything. He was hurting, pain meds did nothing for him, and he was just doing whatever he could to make himself comfy. That was a really hard time bc we struggled with disciplining our child that was clearly doing wrong, but he was in so much pain at times...what do you do? This surgery has really made a difference in all of our lives! Houston feels so much better, the girls can actually play with him, I'm not saying the same things over and over...it's really nice. Don't get me wrong, our household is still wild and crazy...but the attitudes are so much better.

Yesterday Houston and Drew played on the floor together for an hour or two. That's never happened before! He told my Mom thank you for playing football with him, he says excuse me when passing the girls in the hall....my sweet little ball player is back!

Drew is starting to wave!!! We're working on a few more things but watching him learn these first little things is so awesome. I went back to work when the triplets were 4 months old and even went back part time 2 wks after Drew was born (for about a month) to save up my leave time for when he came home. I missed lots of firsts and fun little moments to get things done at times....but I'm really soaking that up right now. I'm here, days are great, days are hard, and you just have to dive in and love the moments with your kids..good or bad, happy or sad.

Our little Princesses are still the same little girls. Thank goodness for that! But they are getting a little more opinionated! I thought I could wait until they were 13 or so before I got "Mom, stop it". Nope, it's already starting...gotta get control of that one.

Okay, off to clean some and play hard before lunch. Great hopes for the kids taking a nap today!

These are the Good Old Days...for my kids

There is just something special about watching your kids have moments that you had years ago....moments you have remembered your entire life. I stop and watch them teach Drew to crawl forward and not backwards. Hollise and Houston lined up beside him on the floor as if they were about to race. Over and over they crawled across the floor and still...Drew goes backwards, laughing. He loves getting their attention! Sometimes I think he won't crawl forward just so they'll play with him.

Hannah woke up and while getting everyone ready for the day I notice the Parent Trap is on Disney. MY FAVORITE!!!! I remember laying on the floor, on my parents mauve carpet:), watching this black and white movie my Mom said over and over I would like. I wasn't so sure about that because I didn't like "new" movies at all. Boy was I wrong about this one. The Parent Trap is really the first movie I remember watching, liking, and understanding the funny things happening in the movie. So here I sit this morning trying to get my 2 yr old girls to enjoy the same moment I did years ago. But it's not working!!! They're 2 and I was about 5 or 6, lol..so for now it's a hope for them to love the Parent Trap just as I do.

Yesterday the Temptations movie was on vh1. For those that don't know me so well...I'm just sort of a Fan! If I ever bumped into Mr. Otis he would get such an earful from me!! I at least want to sing my girl with them once...come on...they don't know I'm tone deaf, lol. I take the kids and twirl them singing.."my girl, my girl..or my boy, my boy". They love it and say, "do again Mommy". Randle and I always knew it was a good day when we woke up to the Temptations, Supremes, or Van Morrison and the sound of the vacuum going. Awkward combination, yes I know. We would get out of bed, bc that vacuum was so loud, and open our door to Mom dancing and singing. We had a clean smelling house, folded clothes on the table...for us to put up..and there was just something calming about that. It was a good day, good times, and good music. That kind of music can change any bad day for me....it's feel good music!

Ok...updates

Houston is just fine! Other than the big, blue, splint on his arm he's fine. This ABC and surgery hasn't slowed him down one bit. We go back on Friday for his Post Op.

Hannah...well, Hannah is trying to convince Alan and I that she needs a Pink Dog?

Hollise wants everyone to chase her. I'm glad she's not in school right now with this crazy flu stuff. She would be so caught up in kiss chase she would get everyone sick, lol.

Drew is reaching for you to pick him up. He has only said Momma once and this morning Alan heard him say Hey. He can give you "high 5" and as I said above he's working on crawling forward. Thanks to Mimi and Papaw he got a walker and his well on his way to running!

Love you all...thanks for the Prayers. Alan and I had such a calming feeling the morning of Houston's surgery. We couldn't have stressed over Houston if we wanted to. I of course lost it one good time when my sweet boy was taken from me. But, we could actually feel God keeping us calm. Houston had a wonderful surgery day. The MRI wasn't so fun, but he was just fine for surgery. Never cried that morning, didn't fuss going with the doctors by himself. He is such a strong little boy! None of us could have made it through that week without all of you and your Prayers...Thank you again.

In our room and settled

We've been in our room since lunch. It's taken Houston a while to get comfortable for any period of time. The nursing staff is taking such good care of him and super nice and willing to offer any help they can to make Alan and I comfortable. This is such an awesome hospital and I'm sure I've NEVER been in a place where every employee appears to be happy!

Our family is so wonderful and has been so supportive through all of this. It usually takes everyone doing a little something for us when we have to be out of town like this. Mom, Gina, and Jackie just don't get enough credit from us....not enough thank you's...they're great and they just do whatever we need at a moments notice. I love them!!! Houston thinks they're pretty special too:)

Here's a few pics of Houston back in our room. I know ourparents have been asking what type of cast he has now, etc. and everyone else is curious as well.

Feel free to google an ABC, Aneurysmal Bone Cyst. I'm not really sure how to explain it..I know considering the size of the cyst this is a great diagnosis and outcome. This ABC is still at a very high risk of growing back. We'll know more about the area around the growth plate at our follow up next week.

Thank you all for your prayers!!! God IS so good to our family!!!

Random thoughts by someone...they're pretty funny

I copied this from Laura Tomlinson's Blog...too funny Laura!!!! Gave me a good laugh sitting here at the hospital...the nintendo one is my favorite! Matt Hewlett taught me and Randle to blow on the game to get it to work,lol. Can't believe I remember that.


-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my ownstory that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
-Nothing stinks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like checkyour watch orphone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magicallyfix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all knowhow to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards orFAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
-There is a great need for sarcasm font.
-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.
-How in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags up my forearms than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I trying to finish a text.
- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you s*ck at it.
- Was learning cursive really necessary?
- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else tosay".
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a moron from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said"Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
- Bad decisions make good stories.
-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that theirprofile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if Ido!
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring wouldprobably just be completely invisible.
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to goaround and say their name and where they are from, I get so incrediblynervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be aproblem....
-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at workwhen you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anythingproductive for the rest of the day.
-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond after leaning your chairback a little too far when you're sure you're going to die.
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear Idid not make any changes to.
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this, ever.
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dangit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goesto voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, thenI like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speedfor pedophiles.
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -but I bet my a - - everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
-My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what wouldhappen if you ran over a ninja?" How the heck do I respond to that?
-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating torequire such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fatty before dinner.
(I did not write this, but I wish I had.)

Surgery

Things have gone pretty smooth this morning. Houston got in the van and said, "We're going to the hospital".



We got him changed into his gown and some pretty cool socks...only Alan and I thought they were cool. Houston is NOT a fan! We waited about an hour and got plenty of quality time playing with Spiderman, Backhoe, and Roller...goodness. He got to go to the Bunny Room and pick out a toy prior to surgery. He picked out a little tool set, which we should probably figure out how to open for when he gets back. You know toys aren't the easiest things to get into these days!!

Dr. Heck said the MRI looked just as he thought, an ABC. They are first doing a biopsy and will look at the biopsy with the Pathologist (I hope I have that correct) before continuing surgery. There is a 1 in 10 chance they will not be able to diagnose the biopsy today. But there is a 9 out of 10 chance they will and will continue the surgery as planned today. If they do not get a clear diagnosis they will stop operation until diagnosis is completed and complete surgery another day. Please be praying they are able to complete the process of surgery today along with your prayers for Houston and our family.

Thank you all for praying and thinking of our family. We appreciated the emails, messages, texts, calls....we know so many of you are thinking of us.

Michelle and Alan

Oh....I've been meaning to thank some of the Starkville Firefighters for showing Houston, and his brother and sisters, the Firetruck the other day!!! This really made Houston's week and he hasn't stopped talking about it yet!!! Now, Hannah and Hollise...they just want to drive the firetruck...so watch out!

MRI Done....

This morning went just fine. We got to the hospital at 5:45 this morning and Houston was pretty excited about being around all the lights, animal sounds, and cool kid stuff LeBonheur has. We made it back to Radiology...and waited for quit a while..this was the worst part. Houston wasn't so excited about the little gown he had to wear, nor was he a fan of getting the IV! The MRI took about 30/40 mins and Houston woke up pretty easy.

We don't know the results, but Dr. Heck's office said he would go over the results with us in the morning. Tomorrow we will be back at the hospital at 5:45am and surgery at 6:30. Alan or I will update the blog as soon as we get a chance tomorrow. Thank you again for all of your prayers.

We didn't get to do the MRI today! We were told Houston could have a lite breakfast this morning, just nothing past 8:15am. Turns out a lite breakfast meant clear liquids and not 3 or 4 spoonfulls of Cheerios washed down with a little milk at 7am. And the poor boy wasn't even hungry! Me and his Gammy made him take a few bites of dry cereal bc we didn't want him starving on the way to Memphis. Poor little guy. Alan was pretty mad!!!! They could do it 8 hrs later, but that was 3pm and the only MRI's done there after 3 are emergency only.

So, we go back Tues for the MRI at 6am and Wed surgery at 6am. I'll double check with Dr. Heck that this is ok for him to be put to sleep twice in 24 hrs. I'm sure Radiology wouldn't have scheduled it for Tues if it wasn't ok. We'll see....crazy things keep happening. I think God is forcing me and Alan to ride together and talk since by the time we have the chance at home we are passing out, seriously, we're so tired!

We really do appreciate all your prayers. So many of you have placed our family on your Church Prayer List, Thank You. Please put us on your Church Prayer list if you haven't. Prayer is such a wonderful gift...God is so good to us!!

I read great news on Lana Taylor's page on Dale!!! Congrats....Prayers answered.

Surgery...

Houston's surgery will be next Wednesday, September 2 at 6 am. He will be the first surgery for Dr. Heck that day. We're headed back to Memphis tomorrow morning for Houston's MRI. The MRI is at 11:15, check in is 10:15....don't you like how they demand I be there an hour early, lol. If Dr. Heck has an opportunity to read Houston's MRI results...IF is a big maybe.... then I will know the results after 3:30 tomorrow. So I'll update tomorrow as soon as I know something...either way.

Thank you for all your prayers. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel tomorrow, the MRI, girls and Drew away from us once again. So much going on for us.

Please also say Prayers for Dale and Lana Taylor (and their children). They have so much going on right now...makes me stop complaining!!! Hug and Kiss each person in your family...love them every moment...you just never know when things will change.

I have sat at this computer several times since last night. I just haven't found the energy to update. Sitting here and typing really forces me to think and write things as they are...and things as they are right now aren't that wonderful. No doubt things for our family could always be worse! But I really feel like I'm juggling all I can right now. There is a fine art to balancing a household, taking care of 4 small kids, your marriage, cooking, etc...I really could make a huge list here. The fact is I'm tired. I'm tired for my kids. I am tired of taking my kids to hospitals/doctors. I am tired of saying the same things over and over that involve my children that are sick. I am tired of not loading up with groceries bc I don't want everything to be wasted since I don't know when appt times are in the upcoming days....which means I'm tired of running to the grocery store so often! Ok...enough with me being SO negative! As I said before, things could be worse. So I suck it up, and just move on. As my Daddy has said for years, "I'm tired too, but sometimes you just do what you have to do". That's what I am living off of right now....that and God.

I thank you all for praying for our family. So many times in the last couple of years I have asked you all to pray for the health of my children. Usually they were little babies and unable to tell me when things were bothering them. But, when Houston looks at me with those huge, blue eyes and says it hurts mommy (speaking of his arm) I just feel helpless. Knowing that I can't just kiss it and make it better hurts really bad. Houston is such a strong little boy. And he has a pretty high pain tolerance...didn't get that from me! He isn't complaining much about his arm, but he lays around a lot. He has a short temper with all of us, especially his sisters. He doesn't want anyone in his space, playing with his toys, or anything else similar. He isn't sleeping good anymore (about a wk now) bc he just can't get comfortable for very long. He comes to our room and asks for his cartoons. He will sit in the middle of our bed and watch tv for hours at a time. Most of you know Houston is a BIG sports fan. He's not really a fan of sports players...he's a fan of the actual balls, lol! He LOVES baseball, basketball is a really big deal for him and now with his arm hurting he has developed a LOVE of soccer. Houston is playing with some sort of ball at all times! He also has a new buddy, Terrell Owens. It's all imaginary so don't get excited, lol. He saw the TO show a few weeks ago and saw him playing basketball...although Houston understands he plays football...and they've been big buds ever since :) My mom brought Houston a stuffed horse (this is his favorite animal!!) and he named it TO. Seriously, TO goes everywhere...he goes to bed with him, went to the hospital with him, eats lunch with him, and we all have to stop and watch the TO show if it comes on the tv!! I'm waiting for him to notice him playing football on tv this season. That's will be funny!Oh...let me post this video from yesterday. We were in the van headed to memphis:
The boy is just too funny! And sorry it's sideways..oops.

Anyway now for the serious stuff. For those that don't know what's going on, Houston has a tumor growing in one of his bones at his left wrist. For Houston's age this is very rare that a tumor is growing in the place that it is and at the rate it is growing. It's doubled in size at least twice, if not more, since they found the tumor. They discovered the tumor/cyst (I say both bc until the MRI it's not clear exactly what it is) on 4/30/09 when Houston broke his arm from simply falling off the couch, hands first. He had a small buckle fracture and when it healed without any harm to the tumor things were fine. We knew/thought years down the road we may have to have it drained or removed if it grew or caused further weakening of the bone. In July it grew over a weeks time and we made another appt to follow up with our Orthopedic doctor. He x-rayed and said it had more than doubled and would like us to see a Pediatric Ortho, who sent us to Dr. Heck in Memphis. Dr. Heck is an Oncologist that works with all sorts of tumors in and of the bone. This doesn't mean Houst has cancer...I know most people hear/read Oncology and get worried. But that's not the case, they work with all malignant and benign tumors.

We do not know exactly what this tumor/cyst is but they (all of our Ortho Dr's) assume it is an Aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC). This is a common bone cyst, but not for someone Houston's age. If this is the case it is highly likely it will grow back. Which means it is highly likely we will have to go through this process several more times. If this is an ABC, the plan is to do the surgery and scrape out/hollow the area the cyst is currently in. Dr. Heck will fill the cavity with a man made material that promote bone growth over time. This will allow Houston's bone to hopefully grow back and over time the man made material will go away. Yes, if it comes back this process will have to be repeated! This means Houston will have several x-rays a year to check the progress of the bone growth and determine if anymore cyst are growing.

Also, this tumor/cyst is growing VERY close to Houston's growth plate at his wrist. If it is touching (and I do believe it is, but dr will not confirm until surgery) the growth plate Dr. Heck will not remove the cyst/tumor closest to the growth plate. This would be very dangerous for the future growth of Houston's arm from elbow to wrist. Dr. Heck said he wouldn't discuss this matter further until after surgery bc this is not the main priority right now. Remove the area near/at the growth plate will require another surgery in about 3 years. This is going to really be a long process for Houston and our family. Please remember us in your prayers. Please put us on your Church Prayer List....we appreciate all the prayers and God does listen!

Ok...a few more things

The girls are loving getting attention from their grandparents without Houston around. Their Mimi has painted their toes, my Mom brought them a neat wooden bench for their room..and they've loaded it up with dolls, this Friday their Gammy will be here. They're loving it!

Drew is doing really good wheening off the oxygen. He stayed off Monday night and Tuesday night, but I think he's pretty glad to have it back tonite. He's sleeping so good.

While we were in Memphis we took Houston by Graceland...Go ahead and get excited Myra, lol...Jenn you get a good laugh, ok..moving on. We sat him on the "wall" to take a picture and...turns out this is a No No! He had to get down before we got the pick. But the funny thing is we have the Elf on the Shelf book we bring out at Christmas. It has a little Elf that you name and he comes to watch over the kids for Santa during the Holidays. So, our Elf's name is Elfis! Houston thought we were at Elfis's house...not Elvis, lol!!

Party on the Plaza...

Me and the kids are having so much FUN this morning! Every Friday morning we eat breakfast, watch the Today Show and wait on the Concert to start. A month or so ago the Black Eyed Peas were on and Houston let loose!! As we speak Hannah is saying, Boom Boom Pow...Boom Boom Pow. They think every Friday is Boom Boom Pow day at NBC. We dance in the middle of the floor, Hollise practices her finger snapping, and it's just Fun!!
So, with that....I have to go watch my babies get low to Apple Bottom Jeans, lol! They LOVE it!

I am placing a Tastefully Simple Order tonight about 7 or so. Email me if you would like to place an order or give me a call. Email: tehantriplets@yahoo.com
I'm only charging $1 per person for shipping
To view products go to www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mtehan

Family Fun...

It's Big World, It's a Big-Big World......

This schedule change is really working in my favor! Since the kids didn't like the word NAP we have changed it to "quiet time"..wink wink! After lunch they were sitting on the couch and watching PBS (it's a big world, barney, etc) and then getting back up to play. I just couldn't get anything done! But waking everyone up by 7am, getting dressed, breakfast, playing hard inside and out, little project, and a good lunch....it's paying off!

They now have quiet time from 12-2 and I don't care if they play in their room, take a nap, whatever...but they have have to stay in their room. This took about 5 days of me sticking with my choice to have a 2 hour break for everyone. It was really hard the first day or two, especially since we're in a new place and new routine. I stood outside their rooms somedays making them stay in there,lol.

Now, I'm enjoying a quiet lunch all to myself! Leftover vinegar/bacon greenbeans and grilled catfish....so good!! But I have plenty to do when I'm done...laundry, sweeping/mopping, shower, maybe I'll have time to start unpacking in mine and Alan's room...that's stretching it a bit...we'll see.

I wanted to finish with some of the funny things the kids are doing now...

Hannah:
*She's really into putting her hands out and saying "He does it everytime!". Speaking of Houston hitting her.
*"Mom, I can't want it". No matter how many times I tell them it's "do not or don't want", they still say "I can't want". Maybe they just can't do it, no matter how hard they try...so I'm giving up on that one for now.
*The girl LOVES a bath!.
*She's really missing her friends from school now. But their friend Chloe is coming to play this week.

Hollis:
*My goodness is she girly!!! Hollise is a proper princess born into the wrong royal family!
*Her new thing is, "What"...
*Her and Hannah both have become Hello Kitty fans!
*She has developed a great love for folding clothes. Or shall I say wadding them up and saying "here mom, i did it!". But they have to start somewhere and I'm excited about this.
*If they are all getting a drink from my cup of water, she'll say "that's enough". Bless her..she gets this honest. If Randle and I had to share a drink I had to say "that's enough" the entire time he drank ALL the drink!! I never got any.

Houston:
*My goodness, I think he has proved numerous times he is all boy...enough is enough!
*His favorite thing to say right now...I'm not proud to say is..."stop it" or "no, you be quiet". I shouldn't put that out there..but that's it..that's him..and I'm working on this.
*He is the sweetest, mommy's boy in the mornings. He loves walking in my room to wake me up when his Daddy leaves for work. "Come on Mommy, time to get up".
*If he doesn't slow down he will break another bone!
...speaking of bone, we go to see Dr. Butler tomorrow to check on a bone cyst that continues to grow pretty fast. It's just a fiboris cyst, but please, keep him in your prayers.

Drew:
*The sweetest, happiest, laughing, HUNGRY, little boy!
*If he can get his arms and legs to work together he'll be crawling.
*He can roll anywhere he wants to go..usually wherever is Hollise is.
*The boy loves food! He can't get enough Sweet Peas!
*We go back to Pulmonary on the 18th..please keep him in your prayers as well. He will most likely be taken off the oxygen at night..whoo hoo.

What A Day.....

Some days, like today, I find myself so overwhelmed. By the end of the day I just want to shut down and fall fast asleep...but I can't!! My mind is going in several different directions and thinking about how tomorrow can be/will be better. We live on such a strict routine and life is really peaceful this way. However, things start going so well that I start letting a few things slide. Between moving, catching up on sleep, potty accidents, Drew trying to move around more and crawl, it's much easier to say...Oh, I'll let that slide today. Well, letting things slide 3 or 4 weeks ago has become a HUGE problem today!

Somehow I have got to get my day back together for me and the kids. It isn't fare to them or me. I'm running behind them cleaning up messes, they're getting into trouble, and I feel like my days revolve around making a meal and cleaning up after the meal! When I keep them entertained, learning, artwork, etc. they really listen and interact better with one another and have an all around better day. They nap when they should because they have actually played hard enough to be tired...all that stuff works out. But me doing just what I need during a day to get through the day is for the birds!! I've had wonderful days, don't get me wrong, but today I had my limit and tomorrow is a new start.

For those trying to place an order online for Tiffine Prisock's Party:

*Go to my site www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mtehan
*Place your order
*When checking out there is a place asking "Do you wish to relate this order to a Consultant or Party Host?"
*Choose YES and search for Host as Tiffine Prisock in Mississippi

email me if you have any trouble, Thanks Michelle Tehan

My Tastefully Simple Products ARE IN!!!!

Call me or come by and check out my Tastefully Simple Products! As most of you know I left Mississippi State in May and as busy as my life is....I have still been looking for something to do. I needed something to break-up my daily routine, earn a little extra cash, keep me home during the day with my family, and something I would really enjoy. That's been pretty hard to find! But, when I heard about Tastefully Simple I really had to give it a go. People that know me well will not find this choice surprising!! I love cooking, I LOVE reading menus, and I always want to know what people are eating!! (some of you are laughing over the menu thing...stop it! lol) What better business to dive my time into than a business involving food.

My Sister In Law, Tiffine Prisock offered to Host my BLAST OFF PARTY. This Party is Saturday, August 15 at 11:30 a.m. You can visit my web site at www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mtehan and place orders thru this site as well and Tastefully Simple will ship your order to you or anywhere else you like. Usually orders arrive within 3 business days. For those of you that have College Students looking for quick, easy meals...check out the Meal Kits, Desserts, and Breads. All of these require only one or two ingredients, such as water or eggs, to complete the dish and of course baking time. But the idea is to create really awesome dishes fast and with little work on your end. All of the kits make really great gifts!!

I have ordered some really popular items to keep on hand. These are all available for purchase and I can't wait to order more! I get excited tasting the things I haven't had before...it's all so good. I have the following items currently on hand for purchase:

Corn, Black Bean Salsa, The Trio of Dip Mixes, Spinach & Herb Dip Mix, Bacon Bacon Dip Mix (all the dip mix shakers make 7 cups of dip!), Fiesta Party Dip Mix, Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix, Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix, Nana's Apple Cake Mix, and Bountiful Beer Bread Mix...I may have a few others. All of the boxed mixes come with alternate recipes to change things up a little.

You are welcome to email me at tehantriplets@yahoo.com for more details. Also, let me know if you would like to Host a Taste Testing Party!!! I have lots of goodies for everyone to try!!!

Happy Thursday....

Hollise wasn't as happy about sharing as Hannah was..
Drew...he loves to play!!!! And he plays hard!

*****Please stop copying my pics!!! If you ask, I'll probably be happy to print you copies!! It's my "thing", can't help it...I get it honest...and I don't like seeing pics of my babies popping up in people's houses when I didn't give them the pics!!! And for some reason I think I've said this before!!!! So, that simple...stop it please!.. :)

He takes my coffee!! Any by the looks of his chin he likes it!

They run up and down this hill in our backyard...or just roll down it

Bubba needed a spankin??

Hollise loves a picture

Hannah riding her baby around

Is Aunt Monica's Birthday coming up??? I think it's today or tomorrow....Happy Birthday....if not consider it a nice thought of well wishes, lol.

We are finally making progress in our new house. I think once I get the kids playroom done things will really start to come together....because they'll hopefully stay in there and play! We really enjoy being in town now. The neighborhood is great and we LOVE getting out and walking, riding bikes, and just enjoying the outdoors. Well....the kids are getting rowdy...I better go

I found a job I can do from home!

I have been actively looking for something I could do from home for about a month now. I have had numerous suggestions and lots to think about. My Aunt Monica brought Tastefully Simple to my attention....and I love it! Tastefully Simple provides easy to make meals, appetizers, snacks, and so much more. Most of the products only take one or two ingredients to complete the dish. Which is FABULOUS for a family on the go!!

I have already placed an order, which includes the Bacon Bacon Dip Mix, Spinach & Herb Dip Mix, Corn Black Bean Salsa, Rhubarb Strawberry Fruit Spread (I hear this is a "have to have"), Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, and a few other things. I have lots of samples on the way as well and I plan to place an order next week for some of the Meal Kits and Desserts. Hopefully by Monday I'll have a date planned for a Blast Off Taste Testing Party. Anyone looking to Host...leave a comment so that we can get together. You can Host an Online Party as well!! This will allow you to do very little work to earn Hostess points and will be super convenient for your guests. Ask me for details.

My web site with Tastefully Simple is www.tastefullysimple.com/web/mtehan

Let me know of any samples you are interested in....Rita, Tennille, get ready...you're hosting a party...online or at your house, lol! Val....you too!

Uh Oh Tuesday and Aunt Betty Soap!

This has been a morning! I can already tell Houston is going to be somewhat like his Uncle Randle, pray for him please! lol
Houston and Hannah have been up since about 4am...again. We thought it would be smart to just let them hang out btwn us in bed. Not so smart, but they did force us to start our day pretty early. The house looks as if I'm getting nothing done...I feel like I'm getting tons done. Maybe by this afternoon I'll see results. I have lots to unpack.
On to Houston being wild-I walked into the dinning room and there sat Houston on the floor drawing all over the floor with sidewalk chalk! Once again, I had to explain this is for outside use only! And where he got it, I do not know. I decided about 8 this morning after washing 3 loads of clothes, doing dishes, and eating and feeding the kids breakfast it was time to start cleaning the kids rooms. I was cleaning the windows in the boy's room and had to come back to the kitchen for something. I was about to go back to cleaning when Hannah came to me saying, "Bubba is spraying, come see". I had no clue what that meant. He was spraying Clorox ALL OVER his new sheets!!! I made the mistake of leaving the spray on the floor..I think. Who knows bc he is one that would have climbed a mountain to get into something. So, after a good talking to and time out he said he knew that was a "no-no". He also wrote all over the dinning room floor with sidewalk chalk...which I could clean..but that's not ok!! He takes his plastic golf club and uses it as a bat! This is going to be a long, hard road raising Houston...oh boy.
He LOVES sports and I'm ready to let him dive into a sport full force. I'm ready for him to be able to play somewhere. He already walks around dribbling the basketball, he makes makes the basket almost every time he shoots. He stopped using his baseball T, now we have to throw him the ball and he swings. He's getting better each day. But his big thing is throwing the ball...with in reason he can throw a baseball anywhere you tell him to....and he's left handed. Maybe he'll make it big and I can travel around watching him play somewhere....high hopes:)
Now, the girls....such Princesses. They're doing great with potty training, loving their new space, and boy do they help clean up. They also help me a lot more with Drew now. They love playing with there baby dolls like I used to...when I was little, lol. They stroll around their babies, put things in their purses...they make up all these rules for their babies too. Too funny, I don't know where they get it. When I was little my Grandmother was making dinner and wouldn't let me have the cheese I kept asking for. It was a block of mild cheddar cheese that I called "Grandmother cheese"...she was the only person I knew that had cheese like that. So, I got pretty smart on her! I asked her to play house with me and of course she did whatever I wanted!! I was the first grandchild. I walked right up to her and said, "OK, I'll be the Mommy and you be the Baby"...Grandmother agreed...then I said, "Now let's go get some cheese" LOL. This is the kind of stuff my girls are doing to me!
Drew is being an Angel today...as always. He is a little fussy bc he's getting a top tooth in....yay Drew. He's being such a good sport about it.
Oh, about the soap....Last night I opened a new box of soap before bathing Hannah and Hollise. I turned around and Hannah said, "OH, THAT'S AUNT BETTY SOAP!!!!". She was more than excited. A few months ago we had eaten lunch at Aunt Betty's and she gave each of them this Johnson and Johnson soap that is in a little green packet. I think it's called soap buddy...not sure. Anyway, they love this soap bc I don't have to use a wash cloth...which apparently makes them feel like they're getting CLEAN! So that's not cool, but Aunt Betty soap is cool!

We've moved!

Now you know Drew is just too cute!!

Hollise playing around in her Gammy's robe I have for some reason..hmmm

Our new house!!!



Hollise and Hannah

The last week has seriously been crazy!!! We've been moving to our new house, spent Monday night in Memphis with Drew......really it's been a lot of work!! But Alan and I have been pretty good sports....got on each others nerves A LOT...but we love each other, lol, we got it all done.

I'll start with Drew-his Pulmonologist in Memphis (Dr. Tutor) had requested a sleep study be done on Drew. He wanted to do this for a couple of reasons. Drew breaths REALLY loud at times. Let me make this clear...he is NOT snoring! You simply hear a very clear breath from all the way across the room. At times, Alan and I look at each other and say, "do you hear that?? does he really breathe that loud?" This test also gave them the opportunity to monitor him in a hospital setting while on room air (off oxygen) for the night. This is something Dr. Shirley had suggested be done back in April when Drew was in OCH with pneumonia. I haven't gotten the results, but I'm sure we will soon. They didn't run in and put his canula on so I'm guessing he did just fine. I sure wish they would have been able to hear his crazy breathing!! I didn't hear him through the night...So now I'm sure they think I'm a crazy lady who thinks her child breathes loud, lol. Drew also had a sweat test on Monday morning to rule out Cystic Fibrosis. I'm so proud to say his test was negating....whoo hoo!!!! He stayed off oxygen Monday and Tuesday night (a full 48 hrs) but went back on at night on Wednesday. He has a mild rattle in his chest and his O2 is falling a little below his normal. But that's what it's there for...support and allowing his lungs to relax. Other than the tests Drew is getting so big. I wish they would have weighed him while at Le Beuhner (spell?). He's only 7 months old and wearing 9 month clothes:) This is so unusual for Drew. He's like Hollise...tiny.

Speaking of Hollise...she and her sister are becoming pretty good buddies.

....well I attempted to post photos at certain spots in my post but they all end up at the top, lol. You get the idea. They are figuring out how to play together with their dolls. It's so cute for them to stroll in with their babies and say, "by, we're going to mal-mart (wal-mart, lol)...give me kiss mommy" Really, I can't wait until I can send them to wal-mart..whoo hoo to that day...but no rush, lol.

Houston has backed up his wake up time. No longer is he waking at 5am!! It's 4am now!! He's such a little talker. He's made friends with a man that lives down the road. The guy has a garden and is giving Houston all these goodies. I think he has blackberry vines too and I'll send Houston over later this week to check that out, lol.

Happy Father's Day!

We have had an awesome weekend! Nothing really going on but lots of family time. We've played with our new Freeze and Play Ice Cream Ball...a BIG THANKS to Carrie Edwards and Ian. Today we made chocolate ice cream.
I want to say how lucky we are to have a Daddy like Alan. He works outside all day and comes home and gets in the floor and plays for hours with the kids. He's the calm parent and I'm sure you are all well aware that I'm the one wound a bit tight! We make a great balance for our kids and life wouldn't be the same without him as our Daddy. Hannah and Hollise love dancing with Daddy when music comes on...they stand on his feet...and Houston can't wait for him to get home so he'll have someone to play ball with. Drew loves rolling around on the floor with him and plays so hard he passes right out. Alan puts so much energy into our family. He is truly one of a kind.
I wasn't sure what to expect December 26, 2006 when we brought Hannah home. Not just from having a new baby at home, but from Alan as a Daddy and helper with our baby. He has never skipped a beat! We traded out feedings when Hannah was the only one home. Hollise came home a week later and we still were able to feed the girls with just trading out feedings. Some nights we would get up and feed them together so we could go back to bed quicker, but Houston came home a week later on January 8, 2007 and WOW...life changed! Suddenly we didn't know what to do with one more baby...I'm not kidding..we didn't have a clue. But, Alan and I learned together. He does everything I do with our kids and sometimes more. Not that I'm counting :) but he really is a partner and I'm so thankful to the Good Lord above.
I also want to say a special thank you to my Daddy. I think the world of my Daddy. I truly think my Daddy knows a little bit of everything and every answer he has is the right one. If Daddy says everything is fine..then it is. I don't know what it is about him, what he says goes and I find great comfort in that. He is a very hard worker and he works very hard for his family. I just love him so much!! Lord, Thank You for giving me the Daddy you did...He is the BEST!!

Hi everyone...

We've had another great week! I'm learning to calm down and just take things as they come now that I'm at home. It really has been a learning process for me. I was trying so hard every single day to feed and take care of Drew, do some sort of school type activity with the kids, art projects, lunches, snacks, dinners, laundry, cleaning, and a nap was always a dream waiting to come true. Now that reality has set in and I know I'm going to be home for a few years I'm really enjoying my kids. Not that I didn't before, but I find I'm doing things with them I would have never done before had I been working. Don't get me wrong, I love being out with adults and working...but I'm finding this way of life is just fine right now.
The kids are so funny! Hannah ran in the other day saying, "Hey you guys..I can't find it" and she is turning flips like you wouldn't believe. She flips off the couch, recliner, really anything in the living room that looks worthy. Hollise is suck a princess! She's really getting into dress-up and LOVES wearing my high heels. Which is fine with me because I'm a flip flop kind of girl these days. She really is getting a different personality than Hannah and Houston. Hollise is very out going, but she likes being by herself. I've had her alone a few times and whew...she's a talker. I guess she gets that from her Mommy :). Houston is becoming a very accident prone child!!! This morning Hannah dropped a wooden sign on his head (she pulled off our tv stand) and he got a cut on his head. Of course he never acts like anything is wrong and blood is coming out of his scalp! So off we go to the doctor...poor Dr. Ruff and Marla...they're such troopers to put up with our household. Gotta love them for it! Houston got one little staple and we'll go back Monday to have it taken out. Drew, Drew, Drew, He's perfect! His o2 Sat is about 99 all day long and it does dip a little during the night, but that's just fine. He is still on the oxygen during the night anyway, but it won't be long.
Just wanted to do a little update and let everyone know we're here and were doing great! Love you all and keep praying for all of us!!

Sorry, I know it's been a LONG time!!

I was able to load messages from me cell phone, but Houston broke it :(. Now I'm somewhat back in action. So much has been happening since I last updated. I may repeat myself because I didn't look at my last update. For those that don't know...Houston BROKE his arm!!
About 4 weeks ago he was playing in Drew's car seat (on the couch). No matter how many times I said STOP, he wouldn't listen. He fell and tried to stop himself with his left hand. He broke his arm so easy because he has a dense spot in the bone leading to his thumb and it broke right through this place. He loves spiderman so much that he wanted his Uncle Brian to put on a Spiderman Red Cast. And that's exactly what he got. Yesterday we went back for an x-ray and things are looking great. His arm is healing great and he got a new, shorter, waterproof, orange cast. It's funnier hearing Houston say all that rather than just reading it, lol.
On to Drew's updates...Drew is doing awesome! He has been off oxygen during the day for a month now. He is on 1/8 of 1 liter still at night...but he tries to pull out his cannula as often as he can. He just had an x-ray on Monday and another echo done at LeBehuner. Wow..they spent more time doing his echo than UMC has done all together with the 2 they've done. I couldn't believe how wonderful these people were. We will go back in July for a sleep test and a sweat test the next morning. They're doing the sweat test to check for Cystic Fibrosis. They said at some point since birth he as had symptoms of this and they want to test to be sure. Although it is a manditory test in MS at birth they would still like to do the test to be sure. I feel confident he doesn't have it.
Hannah and Hollise are two of the biggest helpers I could ask for!! The other day Hollise actually fed Drew by herself. Now, keep in mind I was right there with her :) Hannah is such a talker (like her mom) and Hollise is one to take everything in and make sure you do things right.
They're all doing so good and I'm learning how to be home all day with 4 small children. Hannah, Hollise, and Houston can say there days of the week, their months of the year, ABCs, and counting to 10....so I think I'm doing pretty good so far.

**Babycenter Chat Girls*** I miss you all SO much!! I've gotten your messages, emails, etc. I wish I could chat with you girls from my phone. But I just can't get on the computer much during the day!! Why don't you all add me to your Facebook...Michelle Tehan...add me! I miss y'all!

Enjoy the pics

Wild Friday at Aunt T's

Whoo Hoo for Friday!! This week has been awesome, horrible, fun, hard, and I could think of plenty more adjetives, but I'm sure you get the point. Drew has decided he doesn't need oxygen anymore!! He has been off during the day and on at night. But last night Alan thought we should let him stay off because every morning when he wakes up Drew has already taken off his canula. Drew was awesome and did not need oxygen the entire night!! His alarm never even sounded!!

I really think the Lord has been going over and beyond to tell me I'm supposed to stay at home with our children. I love to work and really enjoy being in the company of others and completing a task. But, it's very clear that our life has been changing drasticly in 2009 and now that I've submitted to God's will things are starting to come together. Sorry it took me so long!!

We've been out visiting at Tiffine's this morning and the kids have been playing together. They love playing with Hayes and Paisly. Here are some new pics