Diet Coke-aholics Anonymous

I am a diet coke-aholic. It has been three weeks since I gave up drinking diet coke. :) Yes, I finally decided that I needed to get rid of the diet coke in my life. I do allow myself to have one a week as a treat but I must say that after 3 weeks, it doesn't taste as good anymore! Please note for all the diet coke lovers out there that I gave up diet coke for health reasons. Most of you lucky people do not have the health issue that I do and can drink diet coke in peace. I, however, feel a lot better when I don't. So farewell sweet, dark, bubbly drink! May I find another drink to replace you. Any suggestions?

Update and Pictures!

Here is the briefest way I can think of it explain what we've been up to. (I also like it when people do this on their blogs.)

-We're all currently healthy and no one is in hospital. Yeah!
- Restarting potty training after brief siesta due to hospital stays. I loathe potty training!
- Tyler in the 5th percentile for weight and 3rd percentile for height but taking leaps and bounds everyday.
- Tyler loves his bungee bouncer and squeals and babbles as he bounces around.
- Carly is really into movies right now. Shrek and Ice Age are her current favorites.
- Carly talks and sings all day long no matter where she is. The best are her made up songs as we're shopping.
- Brandon finally got his surround sound and I'm hoping the neighbors won't hate us. :)
- Brandon turned the big 3-0 last month. He doesn't seem too concerned about it.
- Lastly, we're just enjoying summer and looking forward to a few little trips we have planned!

Here's a whole bunch of pics. Enjoy!

Saved by the Bell reunion!

For those that don't know- Jimmy Fallon is trying to do a Saved by the Bell reunion. He had Zack Morris on his show last night and it was hilarious. I know you all watched Saved by the Bell and will even stop while flipping through the channels now to see if you remember the episode! (and we do remember every single one!) Mark Paul Gosselaar and Jimmy Fallon are great in the clip so enjoy!

Um... Let me think about it...

I must confess, I have a tendency to approach new challenges in life with a game plan that I think couldn't possibly fail or have any flaws and that I will accomplish what others have failed to do in record time. Oh, and I also think that my children are smarter than other children. Nine times out of ten I come to find out that my game plan did have flaws and I am just like everyone else.

My newest challenge: Potty Training Carly
My game plan: Flawed
My results: Day 4 and we are having success. Only two accidents today, one #1 and one #2. However, she doesn't tell me when she has to go.
My conclusions: 1. Putting your child on the potty every half an hour really does work. 2. Lots of time and patience are required. 3. Bribery works every time. 4. It's not an overnight process, more like an over weeks process. 5. Knowing when you have to go potty is a concept that must be learned.

When I asked Carly on day 2 why she didn't tell me when she has to go potty she said, "Um, let me think." And proceeded to stare off like she was thinking. When I asked her again she said, "Hold on, I'm thinking!" She never ceases to amuse me!

Just one question: When will she understand the concept of telling me when she has to go?

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

Sorry this is a little late. Tyler is finally home!!! He was discharged from the hospital last Wednesday afternoon. We're so happy and so relieved that his hospital stay is over. He has been doing great at home. He is still on one IV medication for his fungal infection and some other oral medications for his heart. Tyler is such a happy little fellow and so easy going. It's fun to be moving on and starting to hit all the baby milestones that he missed while he was in hospital.
Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We have truly seen the hand of the Lord in his recovery and have learned so much from this experience. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends that have always been so willing to lend a helping hand. Thank you! We love you all!

Pictures to come!

Things are going great!

This is just a quick update on Tyler- as you can see from the picture things are good. Tyler is now off all his respiratory help and is breathing on his own. We are very excited about this and know that we are closer to bringing him home. We still don't have an exact time frame for when he will be able to leave the hospital but hopefully soon. The next step is taking out the feeding tube he has in his nose. To do this he has to show the doctors and nurses that he can drink from a bottle and swallow effectively. This may take some training due to the fact that he hasn't had to do it for a month. He was transferred out of the Pediatric ICU last week and is now in intermediate care. He is showing all the nurses his great personality and they all love him! We were finally able to get a picture of him smiling- it is so great to see him smile and play- he loves the attention! Yesterday he would cry in his room until someone came in and then stop crying immediately. Once that person left he would resume crying until someone came back into the room. The nurses all thought this was pretty funny and knew he just wanted the attention. Tyler has been through so much over the last 5 weeks and through it all has been a real trooper. We love him and can't wait to have him home.

She might be part fish!

Carly loves water! She loves to swim and play in any water she comes across but most of all she loves the bath. She could spend hours in the bath. I will often leave her in the bath and go into the next room. I listen to her splash and will call her name occasionally to hear her reply. Last night I was checking my emails while she was bathing. I called to her and got no reply, so I called again, no reply. So I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and she was just playing and ignoring me. Great! I asked her if she wanted to get soapy to which she replied that she wanted to play some more. I left and went back to checking my emails. A few minutes later I called her name and got no reply again. I called out, "Carly, what are you doing?" To which she replied, "I'm not answering you!" Thanks!
Carly also has a new best friend, SHAMU! We went to build-a-bear to make Tyler a bear and apparently they now have shamu stuffed animals. Carly wanted shamu so so bad so we gave in and got it for her. Now shamu goes every where she does, and I do mean every where! To bed, at the dinner table, in the car, in the store... she was mad at me for about an hour on Sunday because I told her she couldn't take shamu to church. Every night when she does to bed, I have to say goodnight and I love you to Carly and shamu. Heaven forbid shamu should get his feelings hurt! I have a feeling we will definitely make use of our sea world passes this year!

Quick update on Tyler. He is still in the PICU but is doing well. His heart is working well, his fungal infection is starting to go away, and his throat is healing (He had a hard time coming off the ventilator). Right now we are trying to wait patiently for his throat to finish healing and his breathing to return to normal. I think once he is breathing completely on his own, the doctors will move him to intermediate care and then home shortly thereafter. The hardest part is that his recovery is based completely on him and he doesn't seem too concerned at speeding things up. :) Thanks to everyone again for your love and prayers!