Little Squirrel

So . . . what is this little squirrel doing these days? She loves boxes all sizes as you can see from the pictures, screwing and unscrewing lids (so nothing is safe anymore), playing in the cat food and water (yes, I just caught her taking a bottle and putting it into the water bowl and then drinking the water out of it - nice) or she will put the cat food in the water bowl and swirl it around - I guess it makes pretty pictures, she has mastered coming down the stairs, spins in circles - I will try to post a video of this, she can say kitty but still won't say mama! And yes, we keep the bathroom door shut - she has learned to flush the toilet and lift the lid.

morning snack today

Konley

This is normally our weekend with the kids. Last night London and I went to Wichita to meet with them and Russ for dinner. We were able to get Konley out and went to Jason's Deli. Afterwards we went back to their house. London tried out Konley's hospital bed - she really enjoyed pushing all the buttons. There was a lot of new things around for her to explore. Konley was having a very good day. He was able to get outside in the warm weather and spend some time at the zoo. He really looked good compared to earlier. He was talking a lot and then spent some time on the computer. It was good to see him. We have decided that on these weekends Russ will spend Friday night and come back to our home on Saturday afternoon, then on Sunday go back up and spend the rest of the day with him. Keyton and Kassade have the choice to come back with Russ on Saturday and spend some time with us if they want - it will be a weekly decision (you know it depends on what is going on with their friends - teens).

Update on Konley

As you can see from previous posts we had a wonderful holiday with Konley. He seemed to really enjoy all the fun and entertainment that was going on. We did our own tour of Christmas lights, playing the Wii, making crafts, had several family gatherings and of course he enjoyed opening all those Christmas presents. Konley was with us on Christmas and several days following. We had decided that after the Christmas holiday Konley probably would not be coming back to our house. Each day gets a little more difficult for him and we decided this would be for his health and comfort. Russ talked with Konley and he seemed okay with this. When he returned to his mother's house, Hospice had brought a hospital bed for him. This has made sleeping so much more comfortable for him and he has also been sleeping better. He also had a rash on the trunk of his body over Christmas and it seemed to get a little worse each day. After a trip to his PCP, he was diagnosed with Fifth Disease but his chest x-ray was clear. We have seen quite a decline in his health since Christmas. We have seen more paralysis in his body, he is having more difficulty keeping his left eye open, chewing and swallowing is more difficult - as he is dealing with more choking when drinking/eating, so he is trying to eat more soft foods. Russ continues to go see him each morning before going into work. Getting him up and ready in the morning and then returns in the late afternoon for several hours. Konley isn't able to do much on his own, so there is a lot of care taking of him at this point. He doesn't seem to complain about what is going on with his body even though he is getting very tired. Russ and Konley have had a lot of talks on a daily basis about what is happening. Russ is very honest and straight with him. Konley does have the faith of a child and it is comforting to hear him say at times that he isn't scared because Jesus helps not to be scared and that prayer helps him to be strong. We are grateful and appreciative of all your prayers and thoughts to our family. Please continue to remember us all. There are very many dynamics going on and things get very stressful at times. We are at the point where we are trying to keep Konley as comfortable as possible and trying to help him enjoy something each day of his life. Love You All - Russ and Jennifer

Goldfish

For Uncle Jeff and Jerry

London's two uncles - Jeff and Jerry (my brothers) got her some finger paint as one of her Christmas gifts. So we thought we would give it a try. After seeing some of the pictures from daycare - I took it upon myself to be a smart mom - I first took off her shirt.

She really liked swishing it in her hands and smearing it all over the place. She really got the hang of it. She does quite a bit of painting at daycare.

She said it tastes like chicken.

Thank you for the finger paint - as you can see she will definitely enjoy it.

Happy New Year

Wishing you a Happy New Year

For New Year's Eve we went to Adam and Deanne's house. John and Jennifer from KC joined us along with Jeff (Adam's brother) and Todd. We missed Frank and Amy not being there. This year things did not get too out of hand. We had a great time visiting, playing games etc. Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures. Here are the few I took.

Adam explaining how to play Pit.

Yes, once we started the game all these drinks were removed from the table.

Sorry, John I never did give you any words of wisdom for 2009.

Okay, Jeff looks totally blitzed here but he really wasn't.

Thank you Adam and Deanne for being such wonderful hosts. Thanks for the food, bedroom to sleep, and Adam, for making a great breakfast this morning. It was the best B & B we have stayed at. A great way to start the new year with such good friends.