The Cowan Crew

July 4th

2009-07-06T20:28:00.004-05:00

Well, we had a really great July 4th weekend! It started on Friday at Zilker Park in Austin. The kids played on the playground and we did the train ride. After that we ate burgers and snow cones looking over Barton Springs. I forget what a neat town Austin is!

On Saturday we drove to Belton and met up with David's side of the family to watch the annual July 4th parade. It was great even though it was like a million degrees! After that we went back to Gammy and Papa's and just visited for awhile. We decided the kidos were just too tired to stay up and watch any fireworks so we'll have to save that for next year.

Fun Night Out

2009-06-02T16:07:00.008-05:00

David and I took the kids out to a local German food restaurant with another couple and their son on Saturday night. They have live music and dancing on the weekends in the beer garden out back. We had SO much fun! The kids had a blast and watching them dance and be wild was entertainment alone for us :o) Here are a couple of pics and a video. This is Olivia's first dance with a boy !

Only pose of the night

Reece's idea of fun...rolling in the rocks!

Sittin' with Dad
Reece watching the band

Reece's new friend
First dance

Reece's 2nd Birthday

2009-05-23T18:37:00.005-05:00

Big boy had his 2nd birthday party today at the house. We had a couple of his friends over from the neighborhood and the grandparents to keep it simple. We put up his favorite outside toys/games and had pizza and a cupcake cake. The theme was Disney Cars (of course) and he had a BLAST! Here are some pics of the day.

Happy Birthday Reece!

Preschool Graduation

2009-05-23T15:22:00.004-05:00

Well, my baby graduated from preschool this week (snif snif). She was so excited and took it very seriously. They had a whole ceremony with pomp and circumstance playing and diplomas too...sooo cute! I've also attached a personal copy of the song they sang to the mom's in the audience...not a dry eye in the house.

South Padre Trip

2009-05-22T08:14:00.003-05:00

Sorry I'm so behind on my posts but here is a good one!

We went to South Padre Island a couple of weeks ago and had a blast. We were suppose to go with my parents and mom and I were to fly down with the kids while dad and David drove the car with all our "stuff", however we had a change of plans. Mom and dad were unable to go at the last minute and Reece cut his toe and his doctor did not want him getting it wet or dirty (aka BEACH) so he couldn't go. We thought about cancelling all together, but Olivia was SO excited that I hated to make her miss out so we loaded up the car and drove the 6hrs down while Reece stayed with my parents. The first pic was the lifesaver which was my iphone with about 10 games I downloaded for her. It was a pretty long car ride for someone who is so full of energy. However, she got it all out at the beach. We had a day and half of total beach and pool and she loved every minute. We are going to try and go somewhere else this summer so brother can enjoy as well. I was very sad that he had to miss out....I think he would have really enjoyed it this year. Anywho, here are some pics we took.

The Latest with Us

2009-04-21T21:05:00.004-05:00

Well, not too much going on....as you can tell. We had a great Easter and have been crazy between end of year activities at school, swim lessons, soccer practice, and spending as much time outside before the 100 degree days start. Reece is still doing great (knock on wood) just still doing prophy as scheduled and no bleeds (so far). I can hardly believe he turns 2 next month....WOW the last two years have flown by in some ways and CRAWLED by in others.

Here are some pics of what's been happening in our lives since our last post...enjoy!

"Date With Dad Night" at school....Grandad went since our Daddy was out of town for work

Easter Bunny made a haul this year with skates for sister and a bike for Reece

Reece playing in the mud in his Easter clothes....too cute to be mad though

WOW, boys will be boys!

Helping sister at her school egg hunt

The three amigas!

Reece practicing the "big kid" slide at sister's school

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-06T14:59:00.005-05:00

We had our first Egg Hunt of the year this past weekend. It was for our neighborhood so we had a chance to meet some of our new neighbors which was great. The weather was good and the kids had a blast. Here are a few pics from the event.

Holy Hail

2009-03-28T11:41:00.003-05:00

Welcome to Spring in TX. Only marble size!!

Olivia's Genetic Make-up

2009-03-28T11:30:00.003-05:00

Jaime's DNA

David's DNA

New Addiction

2009-03-13T12:01:00.004-05:00

Well hello blogger world...sorry I've been absent so long! Again, I've been sidetracked but not by Twilight this time....no, it's much worse, Facebook! I have gotten so into Facebook that I have no time to do my blogging. I'm trying to take a step back from it and only check it a couple of times a day, but we shall see. Anywho, not much to report from the home front. Reece had another inhibitor test done last week and thank goodness it came back negative. Our doc. told us that if it came back negative this time, we wouldn't need another one for 6 months so that's good! Olivia is going to start soccer in a couple of weeks. This is our first attempt since she was 3 when we had to quite after the first practice because a boy threw AstroTurf in her hair and made her cry! Luckily her two best friends are playing on the same team this time, so that will increase our chances of going through a whole season. I'll post some pics of that when it starts.

Here are few recent pics of the crew.

No Training Wheels!!

2009-02-25T10:57:00.007-06:00

Well, it's official, Olivia is a "Big" girl now. She has been asking to take her training wheels off of her bike, but Mom had not been ready...until now. Daddy finally agreed and he and Olivia decided to start with her old bike since it's smaller. Well.....true to form, she jumped on and never looked back. So much for that bonding experience of teaching your child how to ride a bike! She needed no help from us :o) She never fell, not even once! Here is some video of it. She was so excited that David had to take her out at 7am this morning for a quick once around before school. Just growing up too fast for me!

Peace and Quiet

2009-02-23T10:13:00.002-06:00

Airfare $400

Hotel $600

Massages $250

Dinner at Mortons $220

Weekend spent alone as a couple $PRICELESS$

9 Years and Counting

2009-02-18T18:56:00.003-06:00

Well...............Jaime has successfully put up with me for 9 years. Tomorrow is our official anniversary, but I will be in Florida, so we did some celebrating today. I was thinking this afternoon of all the places we've been and things we have done. I still cannot believe that she let me move her around the country for seven years before finally settling down back near home. I suppose the net result in being back in TX near family makes it all worth while.

So............as my tribute to my awesome wife Jaime, I am making additions to a previous post from early last year. This post is being made under no duress, alcohol or narcotics. (last post was done after a visit to Dr Richard Chop and heavy medication........or that is what it was blamed on) Back by popular demand, here is what I love about Jaime Cowan:

She lets me work a well-paying, life-draining job so that she can work a no-paying, life-changing job -- The only time I don’t miss her is when I’m with her -- She doesn’t realize that I don’t deserve her -- She understands my jokes and thinks they’re funny….or really dumb -- She doesn’t hold it against me (for long) when she thinks that I’m mean to her -- She talks a lot…….A Lot -- She indulges my bizarre ideas -- She makes the best brownies in the world -- She takes me out of my comfort zone -- She showed me how much I could be loved -- She’s my best friend -- She recognizes when traditions are irrelevant and meaningful and important -- She can laugh at herself -- She can laugh at me -- I can laugh at her….well sometimes. -- Her laugh triggers an endorphin release in my brain. -- She’s the most intuitive and emotionally intelligent person I know -- She still has a temper -- She’s comfortable and content being herself -- She puts a lot of thought into every gift she gives -- She taught me how to treat her the right way (I’m still learning) -- She’s a great cook -- She likes my grilling -- People like me better when they know she approves of me -- She listens as well as she talks -- She loves games, she’s very competitive, and she likes that I’m competitive as well, because seriously, what’s the point of playing a game if you’re not trying to win? -- She has not yet completely flipped out over my habit of biting my nails – She lets me open doors for her -- I brag about her to my friends and family -- I pat her rear every time I walk past her and she still looks at me funny like I did something wrong -- She says the funniest, most random things when she’s asleep -- She’s an amazing friend, to me and to everyone -- She’s kind to children and small animals -- She helps me dress in a socially appropriate manner -- She has this tiny little shirt that, uh, never mind…-- She’s both humble and confident -- She has beautiful penmanship -- Her beauty and the force of her presence do not allow me to ever take her for granted -- She takes care of me even when there’s no reason for it -- Her come-hither expression makes me weak in the knees – She is the most amazing mother -- She gave us Olivia…….and still agreed to have Reece -- She appreciates children’s sense of wonder/humor -- She can recognize a crazy ambition in me, and she lets it run its course rather than actively squelching it -- Everyone in my family absolutely loves her -- She lets me hold the TV remote even though she hates the way I use it – She can recognize a pre-60’s car or truck and point it out before me -- She still calls her parents everyday -- I can’t imagine life without her.

I know that each of you enjoy having her in your lives just as much as I do.
Dave

Random Pics

2009-02-17T20:20:00.005-06:00

Since we haven't had a ton of stuff going on lately, I decided to just add a few random pics....enjoy!

Helping Daddy Work on the Stairs

Relaxing with His Puppy!

Tasting the Screwdriver :o)

Balancing While Snacking

Valentines Morning

Valentines Dinner

To Cross This River, You Must Pay A Tax

2009-02-11T19:12:00.004-06:00

It is interesting that with all the shortcomings in the economy today, cities are getting creative on how to make ends meet. For example...................I noticed the most interesting/creative tax this week. While in New Orleans, first of all you cannot get a hotel without paying 30% in taxes. My room rate was $89 and the tax tacked on was $24, which is not abnormal. The most interesting thing was this....................I valet parked my rental car, which turned out being $26 per night (yikes). On top of the valet rate, there was a city valet tax of $3 and a parrish valet tax of $2. Try asking a valet guy who is paid on tips to explain this to you.........it is pretty funny listening to the spin.

Now......for those of you who know me well, you know that I hate debt and actually have a phobia of it. Even if you offer me zero percent interest, I would rather pay cash than owe someone. Thus the reason I LOVE American Express. They make you pay in full at the end of every month so you can never push off a purchase on credit. This way, you should never have any credit card debt. I bring this up to say that this week I got my annual report from AmEx which is always cool to look at. Check out how my 2009 went:

I took 42 round trip Southwest flights.
I rented a car 26 times.
I stayed in 53 different hotels with multiple nights.
I went out to dinner 177 times in which I paid.
I purchased gas 146 times.
I paid $408 in tolls.......(tax)

I cannot wait to get the 2009 recap on Jaime's AmEx................just to see how many times we contributed to Starbucks bottom line. LOL.

Mystery Snack

2009-02-07T14:26:00.005-06:00

So yesterday Reece and I were at this new park we've been going to. While we were walking around, he stopped to play with some small rocks on the ground. Nothing unusual about this, he is fascinated with rocks. So I look away to see a truck driving by, when I turned back I see him chewing. Hmm, surly he isn't chewing the rocks (though he's been known to try) so I run over to discover it's not a rock but rather this. Who knows what this is???

Oh yes, that would be DEER POOP!! He was just munching away and I nearly had a heart attack. I scrapped as much out as I could with my finger, and used his shirt to clean out his rest. I guess to him it looked like raisins but he didn't seem to mind the taste of the little brown yummies. Ugg, how gross, I had to make him leave the park after that because he was looking for more "nack". Nice!

What's Reece Into These Days?

2009-02-03T11:04:00.007-06:00

Okay, that statement is really more of an accusation than a question, coming from me, but I thought it was appropriate. Our little Reece is into EVERYTHING these days to be specific. Since we had his port surgery in October and began prophy shortly after we LUCKILY have not had any bleeds or major injuries that required a trip to the doc. I know it's just a matter of time, but so far so good! He has had a couple of minor falls that we gave a higher dose than normal, and a call to the doc., but we didn't have to go in. This is really amazing since he has turned out to be even more of a dare devil that Olivia was (didn't know that was possible). All my hopes of him being laid back and calm for the sake of safety are out the window :o) He is 100% boy and goes at everything with a big (mischievous smile) and at a dead run.

We did have some blood work done just after Christmas to send off for genetic testing. We are going to find out where in his genetic make-up his mutation occurred then we will compare that to mine to find out if he received the "mutated gene" from me or not. This matters because if he did get it from me, then Olivia has a chance of also being a carrier. I'm trying to not worry about that until we know for sure if is was me or not.

Other than this, Reece has been a normal wild almost 2yr. old. I feel so much better about letting him do all the climbing, running, and jumping that he wants when I have his factor right inside the house (and his helmet on). If I know we're going to have a big day, I just infuse him and go on with our life. It's such a comfort knowing we have that ability now! Here are a few pics of him and what he's doing these days.

I discovered this talent while doing laundry one day....yes scary!

Playing Silly String with Sister Wearing Daddy's Hat We play with EVERY toy in the box! He sits in the wagon the way HE wants to!

First Tooth

2009-01-30T19:02:00.003-06:00

Well, we finally lost the tooth that has been literally hanging on for a couple of weeks now. She called me frantically from the bath tub to tell me it came out! Since Daddy is out of town until tomorrow night, we've decided to write the tooth fairy a note tonight and tell her that we are going to wait until Sunday night to hand over the tooth so he can see it. Here is our first picture!

25 Random Things

2009-01-30T16:06:00.002-06:00

I've gotten a couple of emails with these so I figured I would go ahead an blog it to save time. There isn't too much random about my life, but here is what I came up with....enjoy!

I'm an only child
I love to cook, but don't get to do it as often as I would like.
Purple is my favorite color
I played basketball, volleyball, and was a cheerleader in high school
I grew up showing horses
The Container Store is one of my favorite places to go....all that organizing stuff makes me happy.
I could sleep 10 hrs a night (if my kids would let me).
I love text messaging!
My favorite bands/singers are Oasis, The Fray, and Michelle Branch
I wish I were a writer
I love to travel
I would love to drive a race car
I'm terrified of heights
The Cheesecake Factory is my favorite place to eat
I LOVE the Twilight book series (Although I'm sure you already knew that from my other posts)
I love to snow ski, though I haven't been since I was in high school.
I'm incredibly competitive
Christmas is my favorite holiday
I love staying at home with my kids, even though it's the hardest job I've ever had.
I haven't balanced a check book since high school (thank goodness for online banking)
I've secretly always wanted to try out on American Idol (stop laughing)
I always wanted at least 4 kids....ha ha, we're SO done after 2.
I love it when you can see the vacuum lines in the carpet (little OCD)
I love to go fishing
My favorite TV shows are Lost, The Mentalist, and So You Think You Can Dance

Camping Full Time

2009-01-25T17:45:00.010-06:00

Since Jaime has been exposed to Twilight, I thought I would update everyone on recent activities. Jaime should be finished with the fourth book this week, which means things should return to normal.......or what I would call normal for us.

Recently we discovered that Reece has gotten big enough to get out of his crib. Typically at night or when he is napping is the only time he goes without his helment. In an effort to keep him from having that head injury we always worry about, Reece got himself a year round tent. Take a look, he actually likes it........up until the point we zip him in. Now all he needs is a flashlight and fishing pole.

Speaking of head injuries, Reece recently lost a battle with the wall. Check out this nice little bruise on his forehead. Fortunately we had infused earlier that morning.

Recently, I notice several golf carts in my dad's pasture. After negotiating "a steal" with him, I aquired one of them. It took some work getting it going, but it really has turned into Olivia's favorite pastime. She had her friend over last week and we had quite the adventure.

After high centering on some rocks at the lake behind our house, Olivia and I decided that some adjustments needed to be made. After checking out craigslist, we agreed on a lift kit, new offroad tires, new vinyl and a rear seat so more friends can come along. There is still some work to do, but here is the progress. Olivia just loves driving her kart around the house.

And finally...........I wanted to share an unsolicited piece of advice I received last week when I was in Denver. As many of you know, I travel quite a bit which keeps me from home a couple days each week. An old friend reminded me of this to keep our priorities in check:

When it comes to Money: You can earn it, steal it, find it, win it, inherit it, and more...
When it comes to Time: Time is non-negotiable.....

Where's Jaime??

2009-01-18T18:32:00.003-06:00

Okay, well I'm a little embarrassed to admit but I've have been sucked into the world of the Twilight book series. I'll tell you I am TOTALLY obsessed!! I read the first book in three days, then the next one I read the first 522 pages on Friday! I have never read anything like them before. Thank goodness I have several friends who have read them before because I have needed them to coach me through each one. I am working on the third one now, and am trying to pace myself. I know, it's totally sad that I'm 32 and am into these teenager vampire books...but it's true, a the books are great! So, if anyone is looking for ideas on something good to read....two thumbs up from me.

My Big Redneck Wedding????

2009-01-08T09:18:00.004-06:00

Okay, the other night I was looking for something that was not depressing, stressful, or thought provoking...ahhhh CMT's "My Big Redneck Wedding". OMG this has got to be the funnest thing I've ever seen!! It was so ridiculous that I couldn't turn the channel. It's a little like Jerry Springer was a few years ago.....everyone secretly watched, but no one wanted to admit it. Well, if you're looking for a really good laugh with a bonus of feeling GREAT about your lives, check it out!!! Here's a little taste for you.....FYI - some of it may not be kid friendly :o)

http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/202846/my-big-redneck-wedding-preview.jhtml?

Cowan...........Reece Cowan.

2009-01-07T18:07:00.004-06:00

2009

2009-01-04T21:21:00.005-06:00

Well, I had all these great intentions on posting a really great blog of all our major happenings in 2008 with a month by month summary and pics....but after working on it for almost a week now, I decided in bed last night not to do it. All in all, we had a really good year in 2008 but I'm ready to move on to a new year! This year will bring all kinds of exciting stuff for us. Reece's Hemophilia is a continuous learning process, but we welcome all the knowledge we can get. My hope is that his body continues to react well to the prophylaxis and that we have no major issues to overcome (might be wishful thinking, but what the heck). My big girl will start Kindergarten this year which is just way too crazy to imagine. Isn't she still in diapers and throwing food off of her highchair to the dogs?? Where have the years gone? David and I will celebrate our 9th anniversary next month, which is also hard to believe. Seems like just yesterday we were moving to Oklahoma and planning our wedding.

I'm going into 2009 with an open mind and heart! It's such a relief to not have specific resolutions but just ongoing goals such as being a better friend, daughter, wife and mother. Loving and living life to the fullest and enjoying every moment, no matter how unremarkable it may seem.

Wishing you all a year full of happiness, health and love!

Sister's Can be Sweet!

2008-12-25T18:50:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T11:29:00.008-06:00

Well, I had a few spare moments during the down time after Hurricane Cowan blew through this morning. Yesterday we started our Christmas early with Mom and Dad coming over to do our exchange. Next we made our annual trip to David's parents house for our big celebration there. It went really well and the kids made a HUGE haul as usual. I'm not even sure we need Santa help next year....between my parents and David's fam. Santa could sure save some money :o)

This morning I set my alarm for 6am so I could be "ready" for them. Didn't take long.....by 6:15 everyone was up and ready for Christmas. Here are some pics we took so far. There is just nothing better than kids on Christmas morning....it's just so fun!!!

Christmas Eve Attire-Designed by Olivia

Reece's New Chair Grazie's Assistant

David's Big Surprise

Okay, Good Example Daddy!

There's Mommy

Sister is a Great Helper!

Who's Ready for Santa?

The Haul from Gammy & Papa's
Christmas Morning Ready.....Set.....
GO!
The Barbie Piano
Who Sees Hannah Montana Barbie???

Barbie Bike

Tag Reader

Reece's 1st Car

The Monster Dump Truck

The Aqua Doodle

Who Loves Mickey?

Prayer Request

2008-12-22T11:45:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I don't usually post anything like this on the blog but I think this time it's necessary. There is a mom who I've met via the internet who has a son around Reece's age who also has hemophilia. She also has a blog that I read regularly. Well, at Thanksgiving her little guy had a massive spontaneous bleed in his brain that he luckily recovered from in full. Since then they have been infusing him via a PICC Line. With a PICC line or a port like Reece has, whenever the child develops a fever they are admitted into the hospital to determine if they have developed some type in infection relating to their device. Here is a link to her blog and I would like you all to read this story. This is such a reality check for me. I feel like it is only a matter of time before we encounter something like this.

I'm Bruised Not Broken

Please keep this family in your thoughts / prayers during this Christmas!

Olivia's Christmas Program Video

2008-12-18T16:08:00.001-06:00

Olivia's Christmas Program

2008-12-18T13:03:00.006-06:00

Olivia had her Christmas Program on Tuesday night and it was SOOO cute. We were all invited to the class rooms first for some refreshments and to see all their Christmas activities they have been working on. The program was a little skit and several songs that the kids did a GREAT job on. Granzie and Grandad as well as Gammy and Papa were all able to come this year so we had a huge cheering section. Reece, naturally, thought everyone was there to see him perform. Luckly when the kids started to sing he toned it down and bit and let them borrow the spot light. Here are a few quick pics and a video of the evening is on the post above. We were all very proud of her!

No Nerves Here!

FocusedQuick Pic with Clayton
Our Best Friend, Alyssa
Reece w/ Granzie & Grandad Watching Sister

Working With Daddy

2008-12-17T10:16:00.003-06:00

I couldn't help but blog about this. Yesterday David changed the belt on my vacuum cleaner and Reece was such a big "helper". He is a love affair with it anyway so it's a real treat when he is allowed to play with it. Here are a few pics of my little helper.

Evaluating the Situation

Making Minor AdjustmentsBreaking for a Photo Op
Relaxing After a Hard Days Work

Third Black Eye in Four Months

2008-12-10T14:40:00.003-06:00

Okay, so raising boys is TOTALLY different than girls. I don't remember Olivia ever having a black eye and she is 5! Reece has had three since September! Of course, the one who wears a helmet and I follow around all day making sure he doesn't get hurt, always seems to find a way. We went for a walk on Sunday and he tripped over his own feet and went face first into the curb. NICE! We hustled home and gave him a quick infusion. Luckily this one did not require any stitches. Here are a few pics...as you can see, he loves his "tough" look.

Christmas Parade

2008-12-03T13:47:00.003-06:00

We had so much fun last Saturday at the Chuy's Children Giving to Children's Parade in downtown Austin. Each family is asked to bring a new toy to donate to the Blue Santa program so Olivia and David had fun picking out a couple of gifts to take. David's been wanting to do this for a couple of years, so since the weather was perfect we decided to make our way down. We were able to get a pretty good spot where David could hold 'livi on his shoulders and Reece and I could be up on the sidewalk......just in case he decided to be a monkey. Well, everyone had a blast. Olivia loved the big inflatable balloons and the cheerleaders (of course) and Reece loved the Firetrucks and the bands. He kept dancing the whole time we were there. We are going to try and make this an annual event for the Cowan Family. Here are a few pics.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T14:01:00.003-06:00

Okay, sorry I'm behind on my posting. My power cord to my laptop died and I was waiting to get my replacement in from dell.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had mom and dad and my aunt and cousin over for lunch. The food all turned out good, and it was so nice to catch up. The bummer to hosting is that you get most of the left-overs...darn. It is all gone now though :o)

After lunch we packed up the kidos and drove to David's parents house for the rest of the day. We had a really nice visit with the fam and the kids had a blast seeing Gammie and Papa.

Here are a few pics from the day.

Olivia's Thanksgiving Program

2008-11-24T07:36:00.003-06:00

Olivia had her Thanksgiving program last Friday and she did SUCH a great job. Of course 5 min. before David and I were walking out the door to go, Reece fell face first into a plastic storage tote had cut his eye brown and had a nice shiner under the other eye. Luckily, now that we have his factor here at the house, David quickly infused him and off to the program we went. Without that ability here at home, that would have been a trip to the doc. office....whew!!

Back to the program. There was a quick slide show and a few songs, but Olivia sang and participated so well. I think last spring was the first time she actually participated in one of these, so we've come a long way. After the program we went back to her classroom for their Thanksgiving Feast. It was a fun time and she was so proud to show off her room and art work they have been working on. Here are some pics.

The Cowan Elves

2008-11-22T20:19:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

NHF Conference in Denver

2008-11-19T14:42:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to post about our trip last week. You would think we were gone for a month as behind as I am on stuff.

The trip was really good. We left early Thur. morning so we were able to take our time and do some sight seeing for a couple of hours before the conference started that afternoon. We went to several wonderful sessions and really learned a lot. We also met several families who have been through way more than we have. I only thought we had things tough, but it sure put things into perspective for us after visiting with them. They were a wealth of knowledge and I know just where to go when things get tough for us.

The good news is, while we were out we got Reece's inhibitor test results back....they were negative thank goodness. We did find out though, that his half life is much faster than we initially thought. Basically, 4 hrs after his infusion all the factor is gone in his body. Our doc. doesn't want to change anything right now though. It seems to be doing some good, so until he starts having breakthrough bleeding we'll leave it at the 3 times a week. The infusions are also going really well for us. David and I are taking turns and Reece doesn't even budge anymore when we do it. Just pop in one of his movies and he's totally engrossed in that and doesn't even look at us while we stick him. Such a trooper!

Movie Night

2008-11-09T09:47:00.005-06:00

We had sooo much fun last night on our family movie night. David has been trying to get us to do a movie night outside and use a projector to show the movie on the side of our house. Well, last night we finally decided to try it. We waited until Reece went to sleep at 7:30 and then we moved out to the drive way. We hooked up the computer and projector and got the movie up on the garage door. It was so fun! We blew up our air mattress for Olivia and got her sleeping bag and hot chocolate. David and I bundled up and sat in our camping chairs and snuggled in. It was really chilly last night, but it was lots of fun. We may try it on the back of our house next time since the neighbors outside lights made it a little too bright. It was just like going to a drive-in movie but at your own house. I think one of our neighbors found it a little amusing, but we loved it. We may have to invite some friends over next time and make it a big movie party.

On a separate note, David and I are leaving this Thur. for the National Hemophilia convention in Denver for a few days so I'll have an update after we return. The kids are staying with mom and dad, so it's not only a great learning opportunity for us, but also a mini vacation :o) I'm REALLY looking forward to it!

Halloween

2008-11-01T19:41:00.004-05:00

Happy "Late" Halloween to everyone! We had a really good time last night. Since our neighborhood is so new, there aren't enough houses here to go to all the trouble to get the kids in their costumes. So went went to the neighborhood our friends Joe and Maryann to do some serious trick-or-treating. Maryann ordered a pizza for everyone and I brought some wine for the moms. We were gone only about an hour but Olivia got a basket and a half full of candy. We had to empty it in the bottom of the stroller because it was getting to heavy. The kids were so cute, the first few houses had dogs that the kids were able to pet, so every house after than they would say, "trick-or-treat, do you have a dog". Reece did great just hanging out in the stroller and taking it all in. He did crash when we got home though since it was about an house past his bed time.

Here are some pics from last night.

Doing Great

2008-10-30T16:19:00.006-05:00

Okay, well, I don't want to jinx things, but I did Reece's first infusion at home today and it went GREAT! I was shaking like a leaf because Tuesday at our Hemo. doctor after his infusion his site bled for about 10 min. straight and he was screaming like crazy. Our doctor wants us to come in on Monday for an inhibitor test which I'm a little nervous about. She also said that if after today's infusion it bled again like that I needed to come into the hospital. SOOOO, no pressure on mom. Since David is in Phoenix this week for work I had my mom come over to help me. Thank goodness, it went really smooth. We turned on his Monster Inc. movie and strapped him into the high chair and he never moved. The numbing cream must have worked because he never even blinked when I stuck him. Also, luckily, he didn't bleed at all afterwards. Just popped a band aid on there and put him down for nap. No biggie.

Thank you so much to my friend Marsha in California for her suggestions and words of encouragement. It really helped make this first experience at home great.

Daddy's In Charge

2008-10-27T20:54:00.004-05:00

Okay, this video pretty much says it all. Let's preface this by saying, at least Reece is wearing his helmet. This is what boys call fun I guess. Olivia and I were watching in horror. And, yes, Reece is wearing his PJ's which are totally soaked and LOVING it. I stopped the video just before David stripped him down to a diaper and let him run around like that. NICE!!!

Trunk-N-Treat

2008-10-27T09:00:00.007-05:00

We went to the annual Halloween festival at Olivia's school this Saturday which they call Trunk-N-Treat. It's sooo cute, the members of the church decorate the trucks of their cars and sit in front of them and the kids walk by and trick or treat. Then they have free food, train rides, and inflatable jumping houses for the kids. It's always a good time and this year was no different. We met our friends Maryann and Joe with their son Clayton up there. Reece was of course in heaven because we let him walk so he pretty much did his own thing the whole time. Since our neighborhood is so new there are only about 6 houses near us so we're using all the excuses to wear our costume before then. She has her fall festival at school also on Friday so I think we're good. Here are a few pics from the Trunk-N-Treat.

This is Olivia & her boyfriend Zander :o)

Whoo Hoo!!

2008-10-21T11:53:00.002-05:00

Well, I had my first successful port access this morning! This is my first attempt after the disaster a couple of weeks ago. It was much easier this time, as his swelling was gone (which allowed me to feel the port easier) and his skin was not irritated. I got it on the first stick and completed his factor treatment. We did have a couple of nurses holding him down because he was crying pretty hard, but once he realized it didn't hurt and the toy we were showing him, he was fine. I'm going to go back a couple more times having the nurse there for my security, but I'll bet we're doing it at home in a couple of weeks. I was so excited, I picked up a little McDonald's on the way home for a celebratory lunch :o)

New Addition

2008-10-21T06:37:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I may be a glutton for punishment, but we've added a new member to the family....Travis. He is a Sheltie rescue that is between 1 and 2 yrs old. When he was found at a construction site, he had a broken leg and when the vet looked at it, they discovered it was too damaged to save it. So....he has three legs. We fell in love with him at a little dog function they had at a park near by. He is SO layed back and sweet that we thought he was perfect for our situation. We brought him home yesterday and poor thing, sat by the front door all night waiting for the foster family to come back. I moved his new bed and his special blanket that they brought for him next to the door so he could be comfy and he slept there until I took him outside at 6am this morning. Now he's hanging out in his bed in the living room with Reece and I. When Reece saw him this morning he starts panting (that's what his sound is that dogs make) and hugged him. Travis just sat there and let him do it. I'm really hoping that he is happy here and that the kids enjoy him. I'm sure that Olivia wants a more active dog, but with Reece around, we really need one like this. Here are a few pics of him. You will notice that he thought the kids couch was his bed at first, and Reece thought the dog bed was for him. Too funny!

Sea World Trip

2008-10-20T06:31:00.006-05:00

Last Friday we took Olivia on her first trip to Sea World in San Antonio. We went with some friends of ours, the Charltons and we had SUCH a good time. We decided that Reece wasn't ready for this kind of all day fun since he refuses to nap anywhere but his bed. David had a meeting in San Antonio so we met him down there Thur afternoon and went to the River Walk for dinner. We walked up and down the river for awhile and took a boat tour after dinner which they loved. When we got there on Friday morning we parked right up front and went right in when they opened without any wait. It was the perfect time to go, the weather was perfect and there weren't any crowds. I think the warmest it got was low 80's which was SO nice! We decided to do several shows with rides and walking in between. I think everyones favorite part was getting to feed the dalphins. I've never been so close to one and it was amazing. We all had a fabulous time and Olivia was ready to go back the very next day :o) Here are some pics of our big day.

1st Field Trip

2008-10-14T20:35:00.004-05:00

Well, Olivia went on her first school field trip today. Her preschool class went to Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls to the pumpkin patch and fall festivities. It was sooo cute, last week they all decorated a t-shirt in tie dye so they would match for this trip and the one scheduled this Thur. The whole experience went really well and the kids had a blast. As neat as the whole trip was, I think they all enjoyed their first bus ride the most.

Here are some cute pics from the trip.

Sign of the Times

2008-10-11T08:54:00.005-05:00

What 5 yr old doesn't have an Ipod and Laptop?

Online Barbie is just as good as the doll. "It's all about the games girls"

Update

2008-10-08T20:14:00.002-05:00

Well, so much for Reece being happier when we got home. Poor guy picked up some kind of stomach bug at the hospital before we left and is still not over it. Now Olivia has it so we're all laying low for a couple of days it looks like.

The infusions at home went really smoothly Sun - Tuesday which was a relief. Per the doctor's instructions, we removed the needle at home last night which was pretty easy. No tears and it didn't even bleed. However, today was my first attempt to access the port at the doc's office, and it wasn't so great. Reece's chest is raw from the tape that's been on it to cover the needle all this time, so when we had to scrub it with alcohol before the infusion today he went into orbit. Then, I missed on my first attempt so then I burst into tears and the nurses were consoling me instead of him. Poor David was just holding Reece and trying to not make me more upset. Then the nurses had to scrub the skin AGAIN and then they accessed the port for me and I did the rest. Reece cryed SO hard the rest of the time and all the way home. He has been fussy the entire afternoon too. Not sure if it's the bug, new teeth, or the new dressing the nurses put on the port site. He has to wear this needle until Sat. and David and I will infuse only once a day until then. On Sat. the needle comes out and we give him a break until Oct. 21 and we go back again for my next attempt. We will continue to go back twice a week until I have it down completely. Ugg, I'm hoping they ALL go better than today.

We're Home!!!

2008-10-05T09:33:00.008-05:00

Woo Hoo, we're home!! We actually got home yesterday around 1pm, but it's been mass chaos since then. We are so glad to have both our babies back under the same roof! Olivia had a great week at school and staying with my parents. She is such a big girl and we are so proud of her! Here is a quick recap of the last couple of days.

Thur - We were quarantined to our room for half the day because there was a case of BED BUGS across the hall in another room. Oh yes, I forgot to mention this in the Friday update.

To make a very long story short, they had us stay put until all the rooms were thoroughly checked which was TONS of fun with poor Reece still on the IV pump and not allowed to even ride around in his stroller. After a couple of hours they decided it was just in the one room so we were allowed to leave. After a quick stroll and some lunch, he did FINALLY take his one nap for the day in my lap.

Later that afternoon Olivia's teacher, Ms. Kara came to check on us, brought by a goody bag which was SOO sweet.

Fri- After the administration had a chance to chat about the bed bugs they decided to move all of the kids on the 4th floor wing we were in, to a different part of the hospital so they could treat those rooms. SOOO, we were packing up to be moved to PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). Before the move, they were able to finally remove his IV pump though which was such a sense of freedom! After that, we moved down to floor 2 to a room which was NOT conducive to our needs. Reece thought it was a large candy store of all types of medical supplies and machines which were just at arms reach. We did have to rearrange things to keep him safe. Also the room had an entire wall of glass with a shower curtain to block out the light..which meant bright as day all night long. The good news was that our night nurse spent about an hour doing some serious teaching and even let us do his Fri PM infusion and his Sat AM infusion. After the nurses were satisfied we were ready to go home and do his treatments our discharge papers were issued. We have done two infusions at home now and feel really good about them. We're still trying to get down a good routine and find the best place to do it, but it won't take us long. We go back to the hematologist on Wed. for the needle removal and a check up. After Wed. we will do the whole process of needle stick and infusion. Right now, he still has the needle in and a tube which we connect to (see pics below.) Here is a picture of the nurses cleaning up his sight just before we left.
Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful support and prayers. They really helped all of us through this very stressful and emotional week. We look forward to doing Reece's treatments here at home which will allow him more freedom to be the rambunctious little boys he wants to be.

Love,
The Cowan Crew

Friday Update

2008-10-03T10:02:00.003-05:00

Well, sorry I'm a little delinquent getting an updated added. With Reece being hooked up to his tubes and a POLE to drag around. We can't even leave him unattended in his crib unless he is sound asleep or he ends up tangled up. I've also had some trouble accessing the Internet here. On Wed. night we had a REALLY hard time sleeping. The nurses kept having to come in and attend to him which woke him up EVERY time. After the last vital check at 4:30 am yesterday he decided it was time to just be awake for the day. We weren't able to get him to nap until around 10am and I just held him for the hour to make sure he stayed asleep. Needless to say, yesterday we were all pretty worthless. The good news is that I was able to persuade his doc to give us some Benedryl for bedtime last night and I have renamed it....liquid GOLD. He slept like a champ and so did I. I made David go home to sleep though because he was a typical guy and was WAY too loud on Wed. night. So when he came back this morning, I went home for a quick shower and to wash some of Reece's blankets. I feel like a new woman today. I'm so excited also that today is Pet Therapy day so be on the look out for some pics of Reece with the dogs.

On a medical note, his port is looking good and his recovery is also going smoothly. He hasn't shown any signs of pain, on the contrary, he seems like he's 100%. If all continues smoothly we are set to go home Sunday still. David and I are taking some lessons from the nurses about how to access his port at home to administer his factor treatments. So far, it seems a little overwhelming, but I know we will get the hang of it. I'll be trying to get another post in either tonight or tomorrow sometime. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. It makes such a difference when you have such wonderful people helping out!

Here are some pics of Reece over the last couple of days. All I have to say is, thank goodness for DVD players!!!

Reece being silly

Snack time

Port Pic

Bath time

Monster Inc is his fav

Successful Day

2008-10-01T20:50:00.003-05:00

Well, we made it through today really well. The surgery was a success and he was feeling great all day. So good actually he decided that he didn't want to nap AT ALL from when we woke up from surgery at 10am until 8:45 tonight. Needless to say, it's been a really long day. Going to get some sleep now because they are scheduled to come back in to check vitals in 4hrs. Will blog more tomorrow. Here are a few pics from today.

All Ready

2008-09-30T14:25:00.002-05:00

Well, I think we're as ready for tomorrow as we're going to be. Olivia is packed and off to mom's, Reece has more stuff than 4 women, and I have the Uhaul.....David's bringing a Ziploc bag for his suitcase. We bought an inflatable mattress to put on top of the pull out couch for us to sleep on, therefore we had to bring our own sheets, blanket and pillows. While I'm at it I packed a couple of towels from home since I know hospital towels are like sandpaper. I also went ahead and packed all of Reece's food (for a week) since I just know how picky he is and will probably refuse the hospital food and starve to death...or at least complain enough that I'll go mad. I also have enough clothes for about a month...you never know what the attire will be on the 4th floor. I'm not sure if I'll feel like wearing cute shorts, or maybe my pj's all day so I'll just bring lots of both. I've also packed a fitted crib sheet from home and all of Reece's toys and blankets from his bed to make the hospital, cage, I mean crib more comfy. I asked David if he would like anything special from home and he said, nah, "IF I take a shower or anything, I'll just come home". Okay, IF he takes a shower...right we're in a shoe box sized room sharing what looks like a twin size mattress under a tremendous amount of stress...he IS taking a shower daily and if he doesn't pack accordingly, he just might smell like Wild Honeysuckle Bath & Body Works shower gel all week :o)

Yep, I'm a little crazy today, but in good spirits. The surgery is set for 9:30am but we have to be there at 8am to start the factor treatment. I'll post again sometime tomorrow to let everyone know how it went.

Olivia's 5th Birthday

2008-09-28T13:32:00.004-05:00

Well, "Miss Thing" had a great birthday party yesterday! We started at 8am when the inflatable jumping house was delivered. This worked out really well because Olivia, Reece & David had some alone time with it before our guests arrived at 10am. Thanks to Granzie and Grandad for also arriving early and helping us set up. We had about 9 kids here and their parents which turned out to be the perfect amount. We were able to have the whole party on the back porch and thank goodness we had PERFECT weather! Thank you also to all our guests for coming and celebrating Olivia's special day with her. She is still talking about how much fun she had....and wanting to know when we can start planning her 6th b'day party :o) Here are a few pics of the festivities.

Meeting with the Surgeon

2008-09-24T14:46:00.002-05:00

Well, the meeting with the surgeon went pretty well. He was very nonchalant about it. He said that the actual procedure will take less than an hour in which they will place the portacath under the skin, hopefully on the left side of his chest. We will arrive at the hospital an hour or so before the procedure for him to get a factor treatment to get his levels up before the surgery. He went over the risks with us, the most serious being a punctured lung, but he did say that has never happened to him during this procedure. There is also the risk of anesthesia but I don't want to think about that. The surgeon said that after the procedure, we would then be admitted into the hospital by our hematologist. They will need to leave the needle in the port during our 7 day hospital stay so that they don't have to stick him on that sensitive skin every time they need to give him factor. At the end of the 7 days they will remove the needle before we go home. The whole appointment only lasted about 45min after which David and I left feeling a little lacking. The good thing was that this particular surgeon has done this procedure before on Hemo kids and seemed very familiar with their specific needs. He was also the one our Hemophilia doc. recommended, so that's all I need. I don't need his bedside manners to be good, just his surgical skills :o)

NOW, I will say I'm TOTALLY stressing about staying in the hospital with a 16mo for 7 days...even if it is Children's Hospital. They have tours set up for families to get a good visual idea of where we will be moving into next week. We are doing that on Sunday, so I'm trying to hold off on getting too wound up until I can see what it's like. The good thing is I have Olivia's birthday party this Saturday so that's keeping my focus away from everything.

Stay tuned for an update after the festivities this weekend :o)

Anyone Up For Grilling Out?

2008-09-23T20:45:00.007-05:00

When Jaime and I decided to move, there were many things on our list that we really wanted to have. I use the term "our list" loosly.......primarily due to the fact that my list only included a 3 car garage and a new outdoor BBQ. Well, we are two months in and finally done with the outdoor BBQ which turned into a kitchen with fireplace. A huge thanks goes out to Georgetown Stone for providing the rock to make our outdoor BBQ much more that I ever expected. In addition, an even bigger thanks goes out to Jack Smithwick for helping us with all the Masonry work. We truly could not have had something so nice without your generosity.

Initially I was thinking I could make my old grill fit into a countertop, but that was nixed when I discovered how rusted out that thing was. Just because the cover is stainless doesn't mean the rest of it will not rust out. Luckily Lowe's is going out of season on grills and we were able to pick up a completely stainless built-in on clearance. Jaime and I grilled out some steaks tonight for the first time and man were they good. Look forward to lots of invitations once it gets cooler outside.

Here are some pics of the progression and final product.

Half Way Thru!!

The Finished Product!! I still need to build a door for the propane tanks.

Big Weekend

2008-09-21T21:23:00.004-05:00

Well, we have had a very hectic weekend. First, one of my closest friends, Natalie, got married this weekend in Dallas. As a bridesmaid, I went up on Friday for the rehearsal before the ceremony on Saturday evening. David came up Saturday for the ceremony while the kidos stayed with my parents. The wedding was amazing and Natalie could not have looked more beautiful. I'll have some pictures to post in the next day or so of all of this. When the reception was over around 11pm, David and I saw that I had a missed call from my mom at around 10:30. I knew something was up when I saw how late she was calling. Sure enough, she had left a message that there had been an accident and they were on their was home from the ER. Apparently, Reece was just walking through the living room and bumped into the corner of their china cabinet which caused a significant cut on his eye. Okay, so at this point David and I have both had a couple (a term I use lightly) of adult beverages and are panicking. However, after I got up to the room and actually spoke to mom, all was under control. She was able to get a hold of our Hematologist right after it happened and she recommended bringing him into the ER since it sounded like it did require a stitch or two. They had to also administer a dose of factor to ensure the wound would clot properly. After about a 5 hour ordeal, the kids were back at my parents house asleep. David and I finally went to bed around midnight and got up at 6am to get back early this morning. Needless to say, we all had good naps this afternoon.

The sad part was that yesterday was Olivia's birthday and I feel like it took backseat to all the other events. She did have a mini party at my parents before the accident, and she is still talking about how the cake was the best she had ever eaten. Luckily she is also still young enough, that I think the trip to the ER was more of an adventure than her missing out of anything. We have her "official" birthday party this next weekend so we'll keep talking that up. Here are a couple of pictures that I took this afternoon. I'm sure the cut on Reece's eye will turn a few different shades of purple so I'll take some follow up pics in the next day or so.

On Tuesday, we meet with the surgeon about his port surgery so please keep us in your thoughts this week. We'll post after that meeting to keep everyone up to speed.

Happy Birthday OLIVIA !!!

2008-09-20T09:23:00.001-05:00

Surgery Scheduled

2008-09-15T15:21:00.007-05:00

Well, we found out that our surgical group at Children's Hospital did finalize their contract with Blue cross so we are all set to move forward on Reece's port surgery. Our consultation with the surgeon is next Tuesday, but they did let us go ahead and schedule his surgery for October 1st. We will post an update after our consultation next week.

Livi isms

2008-09-10T21:32:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of new quotes from Olivia that I had to share. Here we go...

1. As we were leaving the neighborhood this morning we saw a large rock with an ant mound on top of it. Olivia saw this and said...

"You know Mom, I guess those ants built their house on top of that rock because they wanted tile in their house instead of carpet."

2. Secondly, during the Olympics Olivia stayed at my parents house one night. While the track and field was on, Mom asked her if she had been watching any of it at home and Olivia said....

"Yes, we watched last night and the United States lost the race because they dropped their flute"

Love it!!!

2nd Home

2008-09-06T12:53:00.003-05:00

For 31 of the last 60 days, I have been at my second home. Primarily row six seat A on Southwest Airlines. Well...........guess who is back in town for a while!! Yea!

As a frequent traveller, you can say that nothing bothers me when it comes to airports, airplanes, delays, rental cars and hotel issues. In fact, due to the amount of time I have spent with these, I have gotten really good at watching (making fun/laughing) at those people who are not as seasoned at travelling. I am always coming home and telling Jaime something funny that happened................except for the fact that I begin laughing so hard trying to tell Jaime that it is hard to get out. Here is an all time favorite from this year:

To set it up, a businessman has just showed up to the gate late for his flight. They have already closed the door to the plane, although it is still in the gate area. The man is making a fool out of himself yelling and screaming at the gate clerk trying to have him re-open the door of the plane. Finally..........with everyone in the gate area watching this play out for 10 minutes, the man marches up to the desk agent:

SW Agent: Sir, how can I help you.
Angry Businessman: You guys have a real problem now. You saw me coming and closed the door to the plane so that I could not get on.
SW Agent: Sir, the door to the plane and gate were closed so that we are able to depart on time for the other passengers aboard.
Angry Businessman: Do you know who I am?
SW Agent: Picking up the intercom........... "Attention travellers in gate 12, we have a passenger who doesn't know who he is. Any help you are able to provide would be greatly appreciated."

With the roar of laughter and the realization that he was making a real fool out of himself, the angry businessman stormed off. As a salesman, I am always trying to take away something from every situation. In this instance, SW proved that it is ok to have one angry customer to be able to please 250 others.

Dave

Cowan Family Novel...

2008-09-03T20:37:00.012-05:00

I'll preface this by saying, get comfy...this make take awhile :o) Here we go....

Today was Olivia's 1st day at school! She is still in preschool, but she will be going Tues-Friday this year and it's referred to the Bridge class for all the kids who will turn 5 between Sept. 2 and Dec. 31st. She was SO excited because her best friend Alyssa from last year, is in her class again this year. We didn't get to see her all summer so the girls practically tackled each other this morning when they saw each other. Here are a couple of pics of before school and one with Alyssa.

I also can't believe that she will turn five in a few weeks. Just seems like yesterday we were decorating the nursery getting all ready for our baby girl. Now all I hear is "Mom, why don't you like Hannah Montana? I love her and it's not fair that you don't too" or " Mom, I cut my hair short so I didn't have to wear hair bows anymore, please don't make me wear that". Ahhh, they grow up so quickly!!!

An update on Reece ....well, we have now gone three weeks straight with no successful factor treatment. The nurses at Children's Hospital have been really careful but each time, we end up blowing the veins on both tries so we have to toss the factor and hope for better luck next time. I'm just so thankful that he doesn't even whimper anymore when they do this. He still flirts with the nurses when we get there and is more concerned about getting a hold of the alcohol swab wrapper than the pain. I have a call into our Hematologist to find out if we should still keep trying or go without for a few weeks. As for the port surgery, we are in the process of waiting for the Pediatric Surgical team to finalize a contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield so we can schedule the surgery. We were wanting to have it done this month, but it looks like unless he has another joint bleed we will either wait until October, or go to San Antonio Children's Hospital to have it done. I'm just hoping that we are able to have it done here in Austin because we will have to stay down there for 10 days before we are able to bring him home.

On a lighter note, this is what Mr. Reece is into these days......the BATHROOM!! He is such a turkey! He snuck into our bathroom yesterday and this is what happened :o)

Never ending Olympic fever! Olivia enjoyed the Olympics as much as we did I think, and it wasn't until we took this video that I see how closely she watched the gymnastics. This is her rendition of an Olympic floor routine.

Lastly, we finally made the decision to turn loose of the Tahoe. It was starting to go down hill pretty quickly and with gas being so high, it was time for us to say goodbye to it. We found a really great deal on a Honda Pilot that was only a year old and really low miles. So far we are really enjoying it! Here are a couple of pics of the before and after.

Deep Thoughts by Olivia Cowan

2008-08-25T19:57:00.002-05:00

Okay, for all you SNL fans out there, some of my favorite skits were the "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey". Well, Miss Olivia regularly comes up with some quality material SNL could use, but yesterday I could hardly contain my laughter. We were driving home from the store and this is how it went...

Olivia: Mom, you know why God made hills?

Me: No, why did God make hills....

Olivia: Well, since He made the earth round, the people on the sides have to use the hills so they don't fall off and get hurt!

She was so serious that I couldn't laugh out loud, but I was dying inside.

Fun at Home

2008-08-22T20:53:00.005-05:00

Well, we are loving the new house! We've been in now for two weeks, and it totally feels like home. There are so many things we didn't realize were going to enjoy as much as we do. For example, our living room had french doors which face due west. I was really worried about this because I thought the evening sun would make the living room so hot...however, the trees shade the sun AND we are treated to a beautiful sunset every evening. It's just one of the many things were love about it. Here is a picture I took this evening.

David's been traveling quite a bit lately so we've had to find entertainment else where. This is a video of the kids playing in the living room. I just caught the tail end of it, but Reece was teasing Olivia by making her think he was going to kiss her and she was acting like she didn't want him to. I'm so glad they play so well together.

We're In...

2008-08-14T16:05:00.003-05:00

Okay, sorry it's been SO long since my last post. It took a few days to get things to a point where I could "get" to my computer and set it up. We closed on the house last Friday 8-8-08 and moved in over the weekend. We could NOT have done it without the help of Felix and David's brother John and Angela. Also, thanks to Granzie and Grandad for watching the kids for us. I would seriously be bald by now if we had moved with them at the house all day.

Everything is going great so far...only a few minor issues. I can't tell you how thankful I am to have all this room! After being in that apartment for almost 3 months. Reece just marches all over the house and I don't have to follow him around everywhere since I've been able to child-proof the house. Olivia has already had several bike rides and she is so glad to have her outside toys back. Our highlight so far has been the snake we found who was EATING a frog last night. Hmmm, not so sure we'll be going in the yard without shoes....ever!

Here are a couple of pics of the place just before we moved in. I'll need to do a little decorating before I do any new pics. Right now, we're still in the phase of trying to remember where we put stuff.

Kitchen

Living Room
Master Bedroom
Backyard

Port Surgery

2008-08-05T19:56:00.003-05:00

We met with our wonderful Hematologist today and we were all in agreement that Reece will have his port surgery sometime early September. Since he has had two joint bleeds in the last 6 weeks she thinks we should also come in to their office (starting Thur) for factor treatments until the surgery. This will hopefully better our odds in preventing another bleed before we can get him on prophylaxis.

For the surgery, he will need to spend 3 nights there, then I can't remember, but I think she said we come back everyday for awhile, then every other until everyone is satisfied that mom and dad are okay doing the injections at home. I'm still a little gray on the particulars, but she did say that there are about 10 days where we will be submerged in this. She told us a couple horror stories on kids who had complications during or after surgery, but the benefits to doing this far out weigh the small percent of negatives. We are going to schedule a consultation with the surgeon asap, and hopefully set up his surgery for early September. Stay tuned for more details.

Another Trip to the ER

2008-08-02T21:18:00.005-05:00

Well, last night we had another trip to the ER. This time I knew without a doubt what it was another ankle bleed. The moment Reece woke up from his nap yesterday he was crying frantically. He also screamed when I set him down in my lap and his foot was tucked under the other leg. So, I did all the tests...tried to see if he would put weight on that leg, which he wouldn't. Also tried flexing his foot up towards his knee, and he was super sensitive to it. Luckily, his ankle wasn't hot to the touch yet, and the swelling hadn't started either, so I knew it was early. True to form though, it was 4:15 on Friday and I knew I couldn't get to the doc office in Austin before 5, so they sent us to the ER. This time though, our experience could not have been better. I have a card (similar to a credit card) that the ER staff gave me last time which allows us to bypass registration. They were so on top of things, that we didn't even go into the waiting room. We went right into our exam room and met with the doc. and nurses. Our Hematologist suggested that we give him a larger dose of 500ml this time since it was the same ankle as before that we had to do two 250ml treatments before it got better. Thankfully, our wonderful nurse Brian found the vein first stick with little "searching". Olivia was along again, and she was such a big girl. She wanted to be on the bed rubbing his foot while they were sticking him. She was loving on him and telling him what a big boy he was. I was so proud of her. It also helped that our nurse gave Olivia the syringe (minus the needle) and told her to try and shoot the saline left in there up to the ceiling. They were best pals after that for sure! We checked-in at 5 and were out by 8. That was a little long for me, but over all it was a good experience. Poor David was again on a business trip in B.F.E. Arkansas so he missed out on the action. However, this time, I felt totally in control and it went very smoothly.

We already had a meeting scheduled with our Hematologist for this Tuesday to discuss how soon to have the port surgery....I'm thinking now she is not going to want us to wait. I'm just hoping that we can at least wait until after August when David's travel won't be as bad. I can't imagine holding Reece down alone and giving him shots w/o David there. We will have an update after our meeting. We are also moving this Friday....YEAH!! I'm ready to be out of this (shoe box) I'm mean apartment ASAP! Here are a couple of pics I took with my phone of Reece at the hospital. He was such a trooper!!

Count Down

2008-07-28T20:29:00.004-05:00

Well, only 12 more days until we move into the new house.....I am SO ready. As nice as this apartment is, I'm completely done with it. Staying at home with two kids and David trying to have his office in the master bedroom is way too hard. Olivia has turned into a caged dog, doing repetitive behavior out of pure boredom. Like a dog turns circles or barks consistently, she jumps from one couch to the other ( a million times) yelling at the top of her lungs. With gas as high as it is, I've tried to not drive around all day, but hey, some days you have to just stay gone all day to keep from going nuts. Luckily though it won't be much longer. We have a few minor issues they are correcting at the house, but over all looks like we are good to go for our closing 8-8-08! We have exactly three days to settle in before David hits the road for almost three weeks straight. He is only home a night or two between trips so we have our work cut out for us. I'll keep you posted as the day gets closer.

In the meantime, here are a couple of cute videos of the kids I wanted to share. You can see how Reece is now a man on the move. He never slows down....going to be just like his sister appears. He is walking all over the place which keeps me on my toes. This is how I justify eating fast food from time to time, Reece helps me burn all those calories :o) The other video I caught just the end of a cute exchange between the two of them. He was singing into the mic and then wanted Olivia to do the same.

Random Pics

2008-07-21T14:30:00.004-05:00

Here are some random pics from the Cowan zoo lately.

Yes, choking hazard I know

Livi & Daddy at July 4th Parade
Livi & Mommy at July 4th Parade
Don't worry, it's just dried strawberries
Yep, being messy is what I do....
Reece has discovered the Water Park
No fear...
You want a piece of me?
Yep, she's a monkey Reece
How cute my little man!

Political Humor

2008-07-16T22:18:00.001-05:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Who Knew....

2008-07-11T13:13:00.003-05:00

...Care Bears could be SO funny. Yes, David took this while driving down the road. Needless to say, I was not with them. Our camera does have a fold out screen so he wasn't turned all the way around while driving.

Caution.....Baby on Board

2008-07-08T12:59:00.005-05:00

Sometime in the early 80's roads accross the us became the showcase for the world's new "Pet Rock".........better know as the Baby on Board Sign. These signs became an overnight sensation placed in vehicle windows everywhere. Their purpose was primarily to let other motorist know to exercise additional caution.

Jaime and I were driving home from running errands this morning and noticed something that made us laugh out loud. For me.....this is not a hard task, but to get Jaime to laugh outloud is something special. First, there was a compact Mazda with one of these sign's. This is what we would call a survivor in the antique business. Secondly, she did have a baby on board..........but as we looked closer, the driver was smoking a cigarette with the windows rolled up. Yes, I know......the window were rolled up.

So..........Lady in the compact Mazda this morning at the corner of Parmer and Brushy Creek, This is for you........

House Update

2008-07-06T15:33:00.003-05:00

Yippee, they have moved our close date from the end of August up to Aug.8th! We are so excited. They are working on the house now 7 days a week. It seems like the only time we can go and not be in a crowd of workers blasting Tejano music is at 7pm. So far they have painted and the majority of the cabinets are in. If I remember correctly next they will do the granite and tile. It's finally looking like a real house and now I can hardly wait to get in. We are having a built-in added to the dinning room (instead of buying a hutch), we will have someone do some custom painting (not sure in which rooms) and we are adding an outside kitchen, but I'm okay with all but the painting being done after we move in. The tough part is that David will only be here the Fri-Sun that we close then he is gone most of the next two weeks. So I think we will just move the apartment first and get the storage building stuff after he is back in town. I don't want to be in the apartment any longer than we have to :o) Will get some inside pics up soon.

Allergy Update

2008-07-03T10:11:00.005-05:00

Well, we were back to Children's Hospital this week for Reece's appointment with the Allergist. We have been looking forward to this one for a long time. They did some blood work a few weeks ago which were to be compared to a skin test we did in the office. The results were really good (in my opinion). We found out that he actually has NO wheat allergy, however, his egg allergy is off the chart. He also had a significant skin reaction to the milk/dairy, but it didn't show up on the blood work? Sooo, we are off the gluten free diet. We are going to switch him onto soy milk, but try offering cheese and see how it goes. He also had his first gold fish yesterday and decided they were excellent :o) I'm so excited that we are able to offer him so many other food options. As long as we totally avoid eggs including anything cooked with eggs we should be okay. We do still have an epi pen just in case he get into something, but other than that, we are all good. We don't have to go back until next year...whoo hoo!!!

Here is a cute video of Daddy racing Reece around the couch in a diaper box. It cracks me up how much fun we can have with every day items when you have kids.

After the races were done, David cut holes in the box and Olivia wore it aruond like a robot.

Clear as Mud

2008-07-01T14:27:00.002-05:00

Well, we heard back from the doctors office this afternoon. They said his second blood sample did come back low, however, he does NOT have an inhibitor. So, it's GREAT news that he doesn't have an inhibitor, but now we will most likely need more tests to find out why these treatments aren't getting his factor levels up to a higher count. Stay tuned...

No News

2008-06-27T10:27:00.003-05:00

Well, true to form, the doctor's office accidentally sent Reece's second blood sample to the Mayo clinic instead of across the street to Children's Hospital (where they sent the 1st sample taken 1 hour earlier.) Ugggg! So, we will have to wait until next week sometime to have the results of that second sample to compare the two. They did say though, that they were a little discouraged that the first sample showed such a low factor level since he had just been given a treatment the day before. We're not going to rush to judgement just yet though. Stay tuned...

Here is a quick video of Mr. Reece walking with his lion that Gammy and Papa gave him for Christmas this year. He LOVES it!!

Reece Update

2008-06-25T21:37:00.004-05:00

Well, my little guy has had a rough time this week. Now that he is on the verge of walking he is in to EVERYTHING. This must have been the cause for what we believe was his first true joint bleed. On Tuesday afternoon I noticed that he wasn't standing/jumping in his crib when I got him up from his nap. When I put him down all he did was crawl on his knees pushing his toys around. When I tried to make him stand, he refused to put any weight on his right foot and was would cry when I touched it. These are all red flags for a joint bleed. By this time I noticed it was almost 3pm and if we can get to the doctor's office before 5pm we can have his factor given there without having to be admitted into the hospital. So, after many apologies to Olivia (she already had her swimsuit on ready to go to the pool) I finally got her to put some shorts on and we all jumped in the car. Poor David had of course left for Washington DC on Tuesday morning not to come home until tomorrow afternoon. I was determined though that I could do this alone. When we got Children's Hospital the doc. office only had 3 nurses that were still there. After about 45 minutes and 6 sticks in his arms, wrists and ankles, none of the nurses could get find a vein that would cooperate. They said that if they couldn't find one, we would have to walk next door to Children's Hospital and get a NICU team to find one. This is when I started to get worried. During this time, thank goodness our amazing doctor's office had taken Olivia to the play room to do arts and crafts while Reece was being worked on. (After it was all said and done, she came home with a potted plant made from tissue paper, 2 painted wooden picture frames, and a get-well card for brother). Back to the needles...just before the nurses gave up the doctor came in and was able to find a vein on his foot. They gave him his factor treatment and sent us home. Whew... glad that was over. He and I were both shaking when we left.

HOWEVER, this morning when we all woke up, I noticed that his poor ankle was swollen again and he still refused to put pressure on it. Uggg, I was so upset. I was determined that Olivia wouldn't miss out on her gymnastics and play date we had scheduled so my wonderful friend Maryann took her to do all her stuff. Mom also met up with them later and took her to see Kungfu Panda. Reece and I went back to the doctors office and luckily they were able to get a great vein on the second stick. They took a factor level test first to check against a second blood sample after his factor treatment to test for an inhibitor. An inhibitor destroys the clotting factor before it has a chance to stop the bleeding. We have also read that it occurs in 15%-20% of patients. Please keep us in your thoughts while we wait on the test results for this. We should know something by early next week. The good news is though, that this afternoon the ankle was back to normal and he was back to his mischievous self. We will keep you all posted as we find out anything.

Need A Laugh?

2008-06-23T16:33:00.003-05:00

Ever have one of those days where you just need to laugh. Here is my standby video. Most of you know that I have a unique sense of humor. Apparently so do Peyton Manning and the United Way. Enjoy!

Please note that no children were hurt in the making of this video.

Raising Parents

2008-06-13T09:35:00.004-05:00

It is said that most children overcome obstacles by not fearing failure. We tell them that mistakes will happen and they are only a way to let us try things again. We make mistakes to learn. I am going to take a dose of my own medicine this week.

I have struggled a little with making sure that Reece is treated like any other child, hemophilia or not. At least treat him the same as we did Olivia at this age. Obviously we take extra precautions, but by far our family handles him much more cautiously that Jaime or I. Enter this week....................I was playing with Reece and threw him in the air which he absolutely loves. He laughs so hard. Two days later:

Thumb prints. These bruises do not seem to bother him, and Jaime and I are getting more used to seeing bruises on him, however it is never easy knowing that you caused them. Needless to say, I will not be doing that again.

Dave

Adjusting Slowly

2008-06-13T09:02:00.007-05:00

Well.........we are now established in the apartment, which neither Jaime or I have lived in since college. It is actually a pretty nice apartment after the sticker shock. Prices have definitely gone up in the last 10 years. Wow, 10 years out of college..............we are getting old.

Olivia really likes the new appartment since the invasion of the "DoodleBug". For the first two weeks, she was regulary picking up 30-40 per day and putting them in her jar. It is hard to name all of them even for Livi. Here is a pic of her with a new find!

On a side note, we now know that the Austin Influence has hit Olivia. As she and I were going to the post office this week she was explaining to me that we do not litter on the earth. I asked her what happens when we litter and her response was: "God will turn you into a bug". I guess this is where the term litter bug comes from.

Happy 1st Birthday Reece

2008-06-01T14:00:00.005-05:00

Well, my little man turned one on May 24th. In some ways I can't believe it's been a year since we had him, but in many others, it feels like so much longer. I'm a little sad that his first year was so tough because I spent half my time wishing he would hurry up and grow out of what ever issue he was having at the moment, and hardly any time enjoying his baby stage. Thank goodness he is over many of his issues though. Since his party was on the same weekend as our moving into the apartment (I know, great planning mom) we had the festivities at my parents house. We had a really good time. Reece did however, fall and hit his cheek on the very first gift so his face is red and puffy in all of the pictures. He also wanted NONE of his chocolate cake. He is his fathers son I guess.

Groundhog Day -- May 22

2008-05-28T09:43:00.003-05:00

Ned: So what are you doing for dinner?

Phil: Umm... something else.

For those of you that have seen Groundhog Day, the 1993 movie with Bill Murray, you will recognize the quotes above. This is exactly how I felt last thursday night. Check out what I was doing May 22, 2007 and 2008.

May 22, 2007
-- In Madison Wisconsin for a meeting with Holt Products
-- Eating Dinner at Capitol Grill
-- Received a call from Jaime saying she was going to hospital to have Reece
-- Finished dinner. Waited by the phone at hotel
-- Panic/Worry
-- No flights home until 6am the next morning
-- Caught the red eye. Paid out the nose to change flights
-- Got home just in time

May 22, 2008
-- In Madison Wisconsin for a meeting with Holt Products
-- Eating Dinner at Delmonico's
-- Received a call from Jaime. Reece fell hard, hit his head, vomiting, heading to get CAT Scan
-- Finished dinner. Waited by the phone at hotel
-- Panic/Worry
-- No flights home until 6am the next morning
-- Caught the red eye. Paid out the nose to change flights
-- Got home just in time

Lesson --- Do not travel to Madison WI on the 142nd day of the year

Catching Up

2008-05-22T09:51:00.008-05:00

Okay, I know it's been over a month since I last blogged and I'm sorry. We are closing on the house this weekend and our lives have been upside down lately. Here is a quick catch up though on what's been going on.

Olivia Polishing Up her Dance Moves. We're getting ready for "So You Think You Can Dance" to start.

Reece likes his privacy while reading a good book

My cousin Sara came to visit us last month and it was so nice to catch up. She lives in Nashville and when we were there with Olivia she was the one who helped keep me sane! We miss her so much!!

Put 'em Up....just a random pic I had to share.

Mothers Day was great! David and the kids gave me a huge bouquet of roses and a shopping trip (alone) which was WONDERFUL. We also took my mom out to eat for lunch to celebrate. Here is a pic of us before lunch...how much do Reece and David look alike here???

Here is a picture of Reece wearing his helmet. He looks like he's ready for battle doesn't he? So far, he hasn't objected to it too much..hoping it stays that way now that he's learning to walk.

We just went to S. Padre last weekend for our annual family vaca with my parents. Here are some cute pics of the trip.

Reece with Grandad (sharing Cheetos)

Olivia working on a sandcastle with David

Reece loving his boat and the pool (thank goodness, because he hated the beach)

Olivia - Ready for the beach

Reece's brief moment on the sand

Olivia's End of Year School Program. Yes, this was one of her silly poses. Just like her daddy!!!

Since she was one of four in her class that are not going to Kindergarten next year (due to late birthdays) she handed out programs at the beginning to the parents as their "special" contribution. Here is a picture of her and her best friend in the class, Alyssa.

What smells provoke your memory?

2008-04-28T12:32:00.004-05:00

Have you ever been somewhere or done something where it immediately reminded you of a place in time you have been before. This happened to me this morning and it brought back a rush of memories from eleven months and four days ago.

Over the weekend, I received a bill in the mail from North Austin Medical Center asking me to pay $19,212. Upon inquiry, if I were to pay this amount in the next ten days I would only have to give them a check for $3587. I would have to say that the medical industry has pretty good margins on their services. After six more phone calls and people in four states later, I determined that the claim for Reece being in NICU was denied due to not having the proper medical records sent to the insurance company. Now............in order to have medical records released, you must request "in person" the release at the hospital providing the service............meaining I have to drive at lunch today across austin to show that I am a real person.

I told all of that to say this.................

Upon stepping ten feet inside the doors of the hospital, it was like the eleven months since I had been there last were erased. The smell of that place.........good or bad........reminded me of the ten days I spent there in May of last year. I think most of all it is the smell of surgical scrub. In order to see and hold Reece, we had to scrub our hands and elbows for six minutes with a special soap and sponge, only after we went thru security to get into the NICU. That place was like fort knox. The entire event came back to me as if it were yesterday.

Getting the call from Jaime six weeks early and not being able to get a flight home from Madison WI. Finally getting home to be with Jaime and having to sleep on a couch in the hospital that my feet stuck past almost to the knee. Finally going home for some sleep only to have Jaime call two hours later to say it was time. Thinking I was Jeff Gordon on the way to the hospital. Reece coming via emergency C-section. Jaime and I in recovery trying to figure out what we were going to name him. Luckily.... moments before she went in for surgery, Jaime saw his name on the credits of a movie she was watching. Getting to see Reece for the first time and thinking how lucky we were. Not being able to take him home immediately because he was so small. Thinking how lucky were were that he was the most developed baby in the NICU. Getting Jaime home after a few days recovery. Having to drive the long way to the hospital to see Reece three times a day due to limited visitation times at fort knox. The heartache we felt for Reece when his circ bled for 8 hours. The tests..............all of the tests. Laying at home in bed at 3 am when we got the call from the doctor that he had Hemophilia. Thinking how scared we were. Getting to bring him home and not knowing what to expect. There was a whole lot going on in between these things, these were just the immediate thoughts that came with walking in to the hospital today.

If we only knew then what we know now, I am sure this would have been a little easier. Education over the last eleven months was the key. At the end of writing this, all I can think is.....................How Lucky We Are.

Good News!!

2008-04-14T09:02:00.007-05:00

We SOLD the house!! Well, we signed a contract over the weekend set to close on May 12th. We were pleased with the offer. Of course, it's not a done deal yet, but we feel confident about it. Now we have to figure our where we are going to live for the next 4-5 months while they build our house...YIKES! Will keep you posted on that one. Here are some new pics of our new lot and of the neighborhood. I can't wait to see how different it all looks in about 5 months.
Front View of Lot

View from Back of Lot

View From Front of House

On Saturday Olivia had the neatest birthday party. One of her friends from school had a party at the Young Chefs Academy here in Round Rock. They made their own pizza (hers was heart shaped) from scratch and learn some basic cooking lessons. It was really neat! They even got their own chef's hat when they left...ours didn't even make it home in one piece though. Here are some pictures.

My friend Alicia also came into town on Saturday for a riding clinic in Georgetown. It brought back so many memories of when she and I use to go up there to ride when we were in 4-H. Olivia rode her horse with her like a big girl. It was so cute. Reece, just like his sister, is SO into animals. He was all about petting her horse, BJ.

M.I.A.

2008-04-10T21:10:00.005-05:00

Okay, so it's been a long time since I last posted. I have lots of really good excuses but honestly, what little free time I have lately, I just want to sit and do nothing. Here is a quick summary of what's been going on lately.

New House

When we had the meeting with the builder a couple of weeks ago, we ended up having to change lots. We moved over one spot because when we saw the lot fit, the house was going to have 10ft from the back porch to the fence and all those trees were going to have to come out. NO! So, we moved over to one of the biggest lots now, however, the spec house they were building right beside us has the same brick and rock combination as ours which is not allowed. I've now gone and picked new brick so hopefully they will be starting on ours in the next couple of weeks. We have had lots of showings on our house but no offers just yet. Might I also add here, that keeping a house this clean is almost impossible with kids! I am cleaning every spare moment of the day. As good as it feels to have a spotless house all the time, it is SUCH a pain!

Olivia

She is still doing really well in school. She actually had a presentation at school this week. They had to prepare an "All About Me" poster and present it to the class. I was SO proud of her. The teacher said she did great! What a big step for my little shy girl! Here is a picture of her with the poster. She is so proud.

Reece

He is doing well....into EVERYTHING though! He went from barely crawling to speed crawling to standing and cruising all in a matter of a two weeks. I bought him some knee pads "wee knees" they are called, but I noticed they were causing worse bruises behind his knees than the ones he was getting in the front without them. YIKES! We have also ordered him a helmet. It should be here any day. He is making me SO nervous with pulling up on everything and really wanting to walk. That helmet can't get here soon enough. I'll post some pics with it when he gets it. His only major problem right now is his wheat allergy. It seems that EVERYTHING has either wheat flour or wheat starch in it. And, every time he gets a taste of it, his face and neck break out in this horrible rash. You can see in the pics below how red it is. Poor guy! On top of that, he is drooling SO much. Still no teeth, but I'm thinking any day now.

We are all doing really well, just a little crazy right now. We miss you all very much and will try to keep the blog updated more often.

Things I Love about Jaime

2008-03-26T19:26:00.003-05:00

Have you ever received one of those chain emails that asks for information about yourself, that you then are to forward on to 20 of your closest friends? (Who has 20 close friends?) I received one yesterday and was going to blog about it, but instead I thought of this............

Jaime has done sooo much for me lately that I wanted to share what I love about her. Many of you may share these same thoughts about her......

She lets me work a well-paying, life-draining job so that she can work a no-paying, life-changing job -- The only time I don’t miss her is when I’m with her -- She doesn’t realize that I don’t deserve her -- She understands my jokes and thinks they’re funny….or really dumb -- She doesn’t hold it against me (for long) when she thinks that I’m mean to her -- She talks a lot…….A Lot -- She indulges my bizarre ideas -- She makes the best brownies in the world -- She takes me out of my comfort zone -- She showed me how much I could be loved -- She’s my best friend -- She recognizes when traditions are irrelevant and meaningful and important -- She can laugh at herself -- She can laugh at me -- I can laugh at her….well sometimes. -- Her smile triggers an endorphin release in my brain. -- She’s the most intuitive and emotionally intelligent person I know -- She’s comfortable and content being herself -- She puts a lot of thought into every gift she gives -- She taught me how to treat her the right way (I’m still learning) -- She’s a great cook -- She likes my grilling -- People like me better when they know she approves of me -- She listens as well as she talks -- She loves games, she’s very competitive, and she likes that I’m competitive as well, because seriously, what’s the point of playing a game if you’re not trying to win? -- She has not yet completely flipped out over my habit of biting my nails – She lets me open doors for her -- I brag about her to my friends and family -- I pat her rear every time I walk past her and she still looks at me funny -- She says the funniest, most random things when she’s asleep -- She’s an amazing friend, to me and to everyone -- She’s kind to children and small animals -- She helps me dress in a socially appropriate manner -- She has this tiny little shirt that, uh, never mind…-- She’s both humble and confident -- She has beautiful penmanship -- Her beauty and the force of her presence do not allow me to ever take her for granted -- She takes care of me even when there’s no reason for it -- Her come-hither expression makes me weak in the knees – She gave us Olivia…….and still agreed to have Reece -- She appreciates children’s sense of wonder/humor -- She can recognize a crazy ambition in me, and she lets it run its course rather than actively squelching it -- Everyone in my family absolutely loves her -- She lets me hold the TV remote even though she hates the way I use it – She can recognize a pre-60’s car or truck and point it out before me -- She still calls her parents everyday -- I can’t imagine life without her.

Dave

Easter

2008-03-26T07:25:00.004-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We had a low key but nice Easter weekend. David had all four wisdom teeth taken out last Friday so he pretty much stayed in bed and recovered. We opened Easter Bunny gifts that morning then I decided that I would be brave and take the kids to the First Presbyterian Church in Georgetown where I grew up. I say brave because I had to leave Reece in the nursery which I have never done before. Mom knows the lady that runs the child care and they were able to hire someone just to watch Reece. I felt very good about it. He did so well too. Never cried, just hung out with all the girls in there. I was very proud! I also surprised mom by letting Olivia wear the Easter dress she made for me when I was little. She looked so cute!! She also sat through the whole service without a peep. She wasn't so sure about going to the childrens church, so she stayed in church with us. She was a very big girl!

Here are some pics of Easter morning and over at mom and dad's after church.

On the Move

2008-03-13T09:07:00.004-05:00

Well, Reece has decided he is ready to crawl now. We've purposely not encouraged it too much because we know that once he's mobile his chances of injury are greater. That being said, he has decided it's time. Over the last two weeks he has sprouted a new front tooth, started crawling, eating table food, and saying da da. It's amazing how fast they can change! Here are a couple of pics and video of him showing off. The one with the necklaces and cat ears are thanks to sister. I'm sure he will love that I took pictures of that when he is older!

Kiddie Acres Trip

2008-03-12T13:33:00.006-05:00

Okay, for those of you who aren't familiar, there is a place called Kiddie Acres in north Austin that is a mini amusement park for little ones. I actually remember going to this place when I was a kid (however, I remember it being a lot bigger). Some friends and I took our kids there today since the weather is so perfect (72 right now) and it's spring break which means we NEED something for the kids to do. It was so much fun! Reece and I only stayed for an hour since it was right between his naps and my friend Maryann is bringing Olivia home when they are done. Here are some pics of the day. The little boy is Maryann's son Clayton and the other little girl is my friend Kate's little girl, Ella.

Who can resist Chili's Margarita

2008-03-05T16:41:00.001-06:00

Guess Who's Moving?

2008-03-01T19:44:00.006-06:00

Well, we are...hopefully. It's not a big move per say....in distance it's only about 5 miles away, but we're going to be building a new home. Ahhh, very scary! We had been talking to a builder at this new residential area, and when it came down to it, we felt it was a good opportunity for us. Even with the nationwide realestate slump, for some reason, our area is still doing pretty well. We just listed our house on the market last night and we've already had two people look at it today. I know that doesn't mean much, but we're hopeful. Here is a picture of the lot.... I'll be posting some progress pictures as we go along. Our house will sit pretty far back on the lot, but those trees will be in our back yard. I'm guessing it will be awhile before they do anything. We have an appointment on Tuesday to go pick out all the stuff for the house.....don't worry though, I have my folders of pictures and "wish list" all ready for them. I'm sure they will be SO glad to see me :o)

On a different note, Reece is doing great. He never had any further problems with his arm after last weekend. I'm hopeful, that this is an indication of "life as normal" after his treatments. That makes me feel really good!

I'm Dave.....you know, Jaime's Husband

2008-02-27T10:49:00.005-06:00

Well......After eight years of marriage, Jaime finally trust me enough to post to her Blog. For those who know me well, you will understand that this privilege does not come without certain stipulations. Aka Rules! Having the combination of being a higher type A personality than Jaime along with a career in Sales, I have been encouraged to tone it down.

As an introduction for those of you who do not know me well, I am the guy that always answers the phone and says.......sure let me go get her. Or, can I have her call you back.....Reece just spit up on her and Olivia is climbing on the fridg. Either way, you get the privilege of talking to me.

So as I sit in the Chicago airport awaiting my flight to the frozen tundra of northern Iowa, the only thing I have to say in my first post is....................man I miss Jaime and the kids.

First Hospital Trip

2008-02-24T20:35:00.002-06:00

Well, yesterday morning was our first trip to the hospital with Reece. On Friday night he was waking up EVERY hour. At first I tried feeding him (which he doesn't do at night anymore), but that didn't help. I also tried rocking him, but I noticed that when I picked him up he cried even more. At about 3am I noticed that he was only reaching up for me with one arm. The doctors told us that when he has a bleed in a joint, you will notice that they won't want to use that arm/leg. I also noticed that he wasn't changing position between wakings which is odd. He is usually all over the place. Finally at about 4:30 I told David that I thought he had a bleed so we called the doc. She said she was on her way to the hospital anyway and that if we would meet her there at 7am, we wouldn't have to go to the ER. So we changed him out of his jammies (screaming each time we touched his arm), and put him in the car. After we got to the hospital though, he seemed to be much better. It took us almost an hour to get through check-in (VERY FRUSTRATING), but finally got to our room. While I was checking him in, we noticed that he was using his arm again, and seemed very happy. After the doctor looked at him, she felt we should go ahead and infuse just to be safe. This was a lot harder than I was thinking. I so wanted to be strong for him, but when I saw the nurses digging around looking for a vein over and over, I nearly lost it. I had to go sit down, and let David take over. After about 10 min. they did finally get a vein and the infusing went fine. I was a little embarrassed since he seemed fine once we got there, but am SO very thankful that he didn't have a major bleed. At 9mo old, that would be pretty early for him to have a joint bleed. All in all, we felt like it was a good trial run, if anything. We now know how early to come (for registration), where to go if not the ER, and what to expect. I also typed up a check list of things to take so if I'm alone, I wont forget something. I'm so thankful that David was here, and that Olivia happened to be at my parents that night. I'm hoping that when this happens again, that I can be stronger. I want to be there for him when he goes through this and not wimp out. It's so incredibly hard to watch this happen to your baby. I give so much credit to the families that have to go through these kinds of ordeals all the time.

After we got home Reece took a couple of really good naps, and was as happy as ever the rest of the day. It's amazing how babies only comprehend things in the moment. Small blessing! I'm hoping that we don't have to do this again for awhile, but we're ready if we do.

Jaime, Where Have You Been???

2008-02-20T10:16:00.004-06:00

Hi Everyone

I'm very sorry it's been so long since my last post. I think I had gotten a little burned out on the blog for awhile. We've also been running like crazy people this month and every free moment I have (which means no kids around) is spent sleeping or trying to pick up the house before the next wave of storms blows through.

Here is a recap from the last post....

School was out for a couple of days for a "winter break" sure never had that when I was in school. However, we had fun (for awhile) with Miss Priss and enjoying some time together during the week.

Next we went to a B'day party for Olivia's friend Clayton at the gymnastics we use to go to. It was a blast! Olivia wore out the guys who were leading the festivities for the Gym. What a great day though!

Next, which was a bid deal around here, Olivia participated in the first Show-N-Tell in her class last week. For those who know how shy she has always been, this was a big step for her. She took a stuffed puppy (which she calls Mitch) and told her class all about him. Needless to say, she got a Sonic ice cream after school for that. We were so proud of her.

Also, for those who I haven't already spoken to about this, there is a group in Georgetown trying to open a Charter school for Williamson County which I am SOOOO excited about. Here is the website if anyone is curious Imagine International Williamson County . It sounds really exciting and am working on the "Circle of Founding Families" to help get it up and running. We've been collecting signatures from our friends to help show community support (so for those who still owe me.....

Valentines Day was next. What a great day...Olivia gave David, Reece and I some of her stuffed animals "just for the day" as her gift to us. It was so sweet. We also went to Mom and Dad's for a birthday dinner for my Dad.

Then, this past Monday, we had our monthly Girls Night Out at Z Tejas. It was a blast and the food was great. Oh, and the Mojito was EXCELLENT too!!!

Yesterday was our 8th Wedding Anniversary and we celebrated by going to Gumbo's here in Round Rock. Wonderful as always, might I add! I can hardly believe it's been 8 years too....wow how time flies!

Today Reece has decided to take a 3 hr nap YEAH for me so I'm catching up on lots! I'll be posting more as we have some exciting stuff happening in the next few days! Stay tuned.....

Be Quiet Sister!

2008-02-05T12:51:00.000-06:00

Olivia has really gotten into Reece now that he is old enough to interact with her. Here is a quick clip of her playing in the play pin with him. I think he was tired of her continuously saying his name so he decided to stop the noise. David and I are so amazed at how much they interact even with him being so little.

Cowan's Funniest Videos

2008-01-28T20:15:00.000-06:00

We have had some pretty funny videos lately that we wanted to share.

The Basting Brush Treatment (Soon to be in ALL the Spa's)
We knew that Reece liked chewing on my new rubber basting brush that David gave me for X-mas, but we had no idea how much he would LOVE a neck rub by it. Take a look at this...it's hysterical. Notice his right foot at the very beginning....it's curling :o)

Olivia's Dance Studio

Lately, Olivia has been asking Reece and I to come watch her perform in her room. This particular video is of her dancing to the Hamster Dance song on her CD. Notice what Reece is wearing....Olivia said he needed a hat so he would be "dressed up" enough. He thinks it's the best show ever...free entertainment and all the Playschool Little People he can chew on during the performance. (Disclamer, I do usually keep her room cleaner than this)

Goodbye Reagan

2008-01-24T18:59:00.000-06:00

Well, my sweet Reagan left us yesterday. After his surgery last month, he really never fully recovered. He developed paralyses in his back end which finally prevented him from standing at all. Because of his lack of control over bodily functions, we were forced to leave him outside, which he's never had to do. He was just so unhappy. It took me awhile to realize it was the right thing to do, but he is now in a better place. He has been such a huge part of my life for the last 11 years and he will be missed so much. There will never be a another dog like him, but I'm so glad for the time we had together. I finally dug out some really old pictures of him to share. I believe that even animals go to Heaven so I'm comforted by knowing that others are enjoying him until our times comes to be reunited again.

Girls Only Weekend

2008-01-21T07:38:00.000-06:00

Well, Mom and I took Olivia up to Mt. Pleasant this weekend to visit my Aunt Annaleisa, Uncle Don, and Pops (my grandfather). It was so much fun. Olivia's last official trip was May of last year so she was REALLY excited to go. We drove the 5 hrs (one way) in mom's car with the DVD player, which is a must when travelling with little ones. She did such a great job too. The hotel was a huge hit. They had two queen beds and a sofa that pulled out into a bed, so Olivia claimed the sofa bed (thank goodness). She thought it was a big sleep over I think :o)

My aunt and uncle have 4 Black and Tan coon dogs which Olivia thought were sooo fun. I think her favorite was Priscilla, because she likes to give LOTS of kisses. Loretta was mom's fave, though, because she is the most laid back. They were all adorable though!

We also got to go to my aunt's flower shop, there in town, where she has two cats, Sigfried and Roy, that live in the shop. Olivia LOVES cats and they didn't mind her smothering them for awhile. What a great trip! It was so wonderful to visit with all of them that we don't get to see nearly enough. Too bad Sarah, Brian and Joe couldn't have been there. Those are my cousins, which I also never get to see. We miss you all very much! Hopefully we will take another girls only trip back this summer when they have some puppies, though, I may never get Olivia to leave.

Mom of the Year??

2008-01-12T10:09:00.000-06:00

Okay, so not that I'm usually a candidate for Mom of the Year, but I think I may have really blown my chance this time! On Thursday Olivia and I took Reece outside so he could watch us play soccer. We took his Bumbo so he could sit up and watch us kick the ball around. Well, the excursion was short lived because Reece kept pulling up the grass and trying to eat it. So we came inside and that was the end of it. Well, last night Reece had the hardest time sleeping. He was up every hour crying but just took the passy and went back to sleep. Finally from 4-5am he just cried nonstop and the passy wasn't doing it for him, so I just gave in and got up. After his bottle we played on the floor for awhile. However, every time he could open his mouth I could see this dark object in the roof of his mouth. At first I thought it was a hole and I was beginning to panic. However, when I put my finger in there I found this.....

A LEAF!!!!!

He must have picked it up on THURSDAY while we were outside and I never knew it. Tell me that doesn't disqualify me for Mom of the Year??? I feel just horrible. I'm assuming it was hurting and that is why he didn't sleep. Poor guy. Luckily, even though the leaf had some sharp edges he doesn't seem to have any cuts where it was lodged. Anywho, I just thought I would share my story in hopes that I'm not the only mom who has done something like this :o)

Update

2008-01-09T09:46:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's been so long since I posted! Just didn't seem like there was any free time with Miss Olivia out of school and trying to get Reece on some kind of schedule. Trying to keep her busy these days is quite the chore. While she was out of school she went to see three movies (Enchanted, Alvin and Chipmunks, & The Water Horse). She also played with the neighbors a bunch....they are such a huge help with her!! Needless to say though, I was really glad that she started back this week! Now I can actually have time to pick up the toys and clean up a bit before she comes home to destroy it :o)

On a different note, I'm happy to report that Reece is sleeping through the night (for the most part). The only problem now is that he considers the night 6pm - 4:45am! He actually starts waking up around 3 and fusses until I finally get him out at 4:45 or 5am! I'm still going to bed really early to compensate, but at least he isn't eating all night long. He is taking his bottles MUCH better and is eating solids pretty well. His favorite things to eat is sweet potatoes....even over any fruit I've offered him. So NOT like his Daddy in that sense.

We also went to Reece's Hematologist yesterday for his scheduled check up. We were thinking he may have to have some blood taken, but she said they didn't need it just yet. She was preparing us for what to look for once he becomes mobile. We're going to start looking at getting some knee and elbow pads since he'll be crawling soon. She also gave us a prescription for a medicine to give him if he gets a mouth injury. Apparently those can be pretty pesky for kids with hemophilia. She also talked about how we would just wait for him to have a joint bleed before we start talking about treatments. He may go a couple of years without a major bleed, but he could also have one in the next 6 months. We'll just have to hope it's not sooner than later.

Here is a quick video of Reece eating peas the other day. It's so funny....he keeps eating them, but makes the funniest faces between bites. It's a texture thing....that is like his daddy!! I promise I do usually use a bib, this time though, he was going right to bath after he ate, so we just went commando :o)

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T06:55:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year! I'm torn between being sad that Christmas is over, and excited for what the new year brings. I've decided to list all my new year's resolutions on the blog that way I feel a little more motivation to fulfill them, so here we go.

Take better care of my body. Since I've been so wrapped up in the kids, I've really neglected myself, so I'm going to work towards improving that.
Be more patient with the kids. I'm hoping that with more sleep (Reece?) I'm going to have a better chance with this one.
Find a church home.
Stay in contact with my friends better. I've been so focused on family since Reece was born, I feel like I've sort of grown apart from some of my friends.
I'm going to try to go into this next year with an open mind and focus on the positive side of things. Reece's hemophilia is going to start becoming more of an issue in the so I'm trying to prepare myself the best I can.

I hope that 2008 brings you all good health, happiness, and strength to preserver! Please go into this new year with kindness toward others, and compassion to all in need.