Texas Children's Hospital and laughter

A small summary of our day today. The laughter first...

Hubs and I were on an airplane this afternoon and I honestly don't know how it got brought up, but he told me he went tanning before some of his dances in high school. HUH!?!? I had never ever heard him say this before. He burns first before he tans, so only a few times have I seen him go to a tanning bed before we were heading to the beach. He wanted to get some color building instead of getting burnt right away.

Well, he tells me he went to the tanning bed "with the guys" in high school before dances! HUH!? So you and your guy friends got together to go to the tanning bed. Like instead of going to the gym, you all called each other to go to the tanning bed? He said well there was one guy (one of his best friends to this day) that he went with in particular. I have NO idea why I thought it was so funny but I started laughing uncontrollably on the airplane. I told him I never knew a guy in high school who went to a tanning bed...much less a tanning bed before a dance. Hubs just doesn't seem like he would have ever wanted to attend a tanning bed for cosmetic purposes. At the end of the conversation, he was laughing hysterically with me with a a bit of a red face.

I didn't get around to asking them if they tanned in order to get rid of their farmer's tans from mowing their grandmothers lawns or if they just wanted to look "good" for their dates, hehe.

{no, this is not the hubs}

Tonight, when I got out of the shower, Brent was on the couch watching TV. I hear him laughing hysterically. I walk in to find him watching...


I start laughing at him. Guys, we have seen Step Brothers approximately 1567 times, at least. We watch it every single time it is on TV. My guess is that it is on once per week. I think we even own it. Hubby never gets tired of it. I guess I don't either. It is pretty darn funny. It is a bit vulgar but hearing Brent laugh at it, makes me laugh. If you haven't seen it, you should. If you don't make it through, try again.

I asked Brent what his favorite quote from the movie is. He said they all are but if one came to mind it would be the one below....

{Dr.Robert Doback is Brennan's step dad and Nancy is his mom.}

Dr. Robert Doback: You jagaloons! You're failures! FAILURES!
Brennan Huff: Hey, you're embarrassing yourself, you geriatric f*ck!
Nancy Huff: Brennan.
Brennan Huff: Two things: You keep your liver-spotted hands off my beautiful mother. She's a saint! And then you sit down and you write Dale and Brennan a check for $10,000.
Nancy Huff: Oh, stop it! Stop it right...
Brennan Huff: Or I'm gonna shove one of those fake hearing devices so far up your @ss...
Nancy Huff: Brennan!
Brennan Huff: ...you can hear the sound of your small intestine as it produces sh*t!

This next one cracks me up...(Dale is Robert's son & Brennan's step brother)

Dr. Robert Doback: We're putting the house on the market.
Dale Doback: Where are we moving?
Brennan Huff: Is the house haunted?
Dr. Robert Doback: Nancy and I are retiring and sailing around the world on my boat. We are living the dream.
Dale Doback: Well what about us?
Nancy Huff: I- I'm sorry. Robert... we thought that you should take responsibility for your own lives.
Dr. Robert Doback: And this is the exciting part. We're gonna put enough money in your accounts for a security deposit on an apartment.
Dale Doback: What's this all about?
Nancy Huff: Um, more than just money. We're gonna get you another kind of support as well.
Dr. Robert Doback: You're both gonna see therapists. Nancy thinks it'll help. And guys, that's non-negotiable.
Brennan Huff: Hold on. We're not going on the boat, Derek's selling the house, we have to go to therapy?
[Robert nods]
Brennan Huff: WHAT THE F*CK HAPPENED?

I hope these made you laugh :)

Unfortunately, laughter came with tears for us today. I don't think they ever stop....the laughter or the tears so I guess that is okay :-/

We went to Houston today.

A plane ride, 3 yummy snacks, a street filled with amazing maternity and baby stores and an expensive taxi cab ride that almost made me throw up (due to the smell) lead us to Texas Chidren's Hospital.

Let me just say, a children's hospital is not the easiest place to digest, at all. My last visit to one, I didn't wait in a waiting area with children like I did today. It breaks my heart to see so many sick or possibly sick kids. I think children's hospitals are amazing places though. It just seems like each and every person that works there is there to help and child and that is a good feeling no matter what part of the world you are in.

I had an ECHO that lasted for about an hour and a half (yes, long) then we met with the cardiologist and surgeon. No matter how much we keep hoping and praying for good news (or even better news), we just don't get it. That is not to say there isn't hope for Baby Cohen. But when a surgeon (and a really good surgeon at that) tells you it is a really bad heart condition, it feels like we are hearing it for the first time. We do already know that is the case, but it really stinks hearing it time and time again. It also seems like each appointment there becomes something new and of more concern. I don't have the energy to go into anymore right now. We have more appointments this week so I'll probably do a full post at the end of the week when hopefully we know a bit more.

Cohen is measuring 2lb13oz today..give or take 5oz. He did VERY good being still the first half of the ECHO and started getting hiccups and moving towards the end.

Thank you all so much for your continuous thoughts and prayers! I'll do a bigger update on Baby Cohen at the end of the week! We are in Dallas. We have a day of resting tomorrow and then appointments on Wednesday.

The next few days, I'll probably do a few catch up posts from things I've started and saved as drafts (Kitchen Queens from February and a sushi cooking class I took I January).

Hope you all have a good week.

Tatum turns five

Last Sunday our niece turned 5 years old! I cannot believe she is 5. I was there when she is born and it's just crazy to think 5 years have passed. It's been so fun watching her grow all these years. For the past 3 years, I've lived less than a mile from her :)

Here are some pics from last Sunday and then a few below them I've snapped over the years.

hubby and I got her some sand mermaid thing...

tatum, taylor and their cousin, brooklyn...playing on brooklyn's daddy
lots of people
cake time!
baby beaux...his 19 pounds of glory

we wanted taylor to smile but she wasn't going for it. she will be 4 this coming week!

cousin zach being silly


Now here are some older pics from the past few years. When I say some, I mean it. I have hundreds. I'm that aunt, yes :)

Newborn Tatum!
tatum with hubs (her uncle brent) @ the lake
1st birthday!
2nd birthday!
her smile was so funny when she was little
:) think she was about 2 1/2 here
3rd birthday

4th birthday
about 4 1/2
this is from a week or two ago.. I just thought it was really funny. (before gymnastics)

love my nieces!

Giveaway Winner! :)

I hosted my first giveaway and it was quite fun! :) I'm glad to many of you were interested in winning!

I went to Random.org and used their generator. Out of 242 comments, 33 was picked! I did go through and count the comments when someone included that they were a follower in the first comment instead of doing a separate comment! I supposed I should have just set it up that way to begin with :p



The winner is Elle at My Secret Wife Life!! She is pretty new to blogging and I'm loving her blog!

Congrats, Elle :)

Maybe I'll do another giveaway soon! I always see little things I like that I think other people would like as well!

Prego Mego - Week 28

Hi all!

{don't forget to enter my giveaway here}

So, I'm 28 weeks pregnant with Cohen. I CANNOT believe I'm in my third trimester! Time has gone by so fast.

I'm feeling pretty good. My body is starting to ache quite a bit. We are packing and trying to sell our house, so I'm staying pretty busy. Do not worry, I take breaks to rest and put my feet up. The GOOD part about this is I'm sleeping a bit better because I'm SO tired! I've finally got myself propped up on all sorts of pillows so I've figured something out..for the time being. The recliner I posted in my previous Prego Mego post did not work for me.

I've been wondering a lot what baby Cohen is going to look like. I know I keep saying I'm going to post baby pics of the hubs and I but I still haven't done it. I will though, I will.

We had an appointment with our OB here in town today. The second round of the amnio results were completely normal! God definitely answered many prayers with the amnio. Cohen is one of those special heart babies.

Cohen is doing good. My normal OB now focuses on Cohen's heart and me, as much as possible, during our appointments. He has to keep an eye on his heart because if there are any major changes, things overall could change. He did say it was getting quite hard to see as well because of the ribs. We start going to him every 2 weeks now.

I didn't get the pictures with measurements today so that was kind of stinky. So hopefully next week, I will get some pics and stats from the high risk OB in Dallas. We leave Monday for Houston and head to Dallas Monday night. LOTS of appointments.

I feel like Cohen is big. He is growing and kicking I can for sure tell that! I still don't know how much weight I've gained overall. I do think the scale today said more than I actually felt like I weighed...so I thought that was interesting...and scary. The average 28 week baby is just over 2 pounds. I bet Cohen is bigger. I hope so :)

Here I am...


I thought it would be interesting to post my 13 week picture, haha.

I'm loving the Horizon Organic vanilla milk....


I'm not a huge milk person but my nieces were drinking this one day and I had to have a sip. It is yum!

No weird cravings. I'm definitely getting hungry more often. I don't think I'm drinking as much water as I can. I'm kind of just sick of it and TIRED of having to potty.

Cohen was back down VERY LOW (and on my bladder) this past week. Just today he has seemed to come up a bit more.

While we are in Dallas next week (if of course we decide Dallas over Houston), hopefully we find a place to stay/live. For those of you have asked, at our first appointment in Dallas we only met with a cardiologist. She said she wanted me to be living there a month before my due date. I think ultimately the high risk OB will decide. Me being there before is a precaution of going into early labor. If I were to go into labor, they would need me there to get their healing hands on baby Cohen. I will have a scheduled c-section God willing. Hubs will be back and forth up until Cohen arrives and then he will be with us for a while (hopefully). We also hope to figure out some dates next week. We have had offers for some living arrangements. We just have to make sure they are compatible with our situation and finances. No decision is easy.

I've honestly stopped reading so many internet articles lately. It's not that I'm not "coming to terms" with our situation; I just think we need to take one step at a time. I don't think there is really any way to be totally prepared. I have certainly browsed many blogs and sites but just not TONS. I thought this fact sheet on the American Heart Association was good information. I will also post it below at the end of this post. We aren't the only family, young couple, expecting parents out there going through this. I think we may be in the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to expecting parents who have a baby that has already been diagnosed with so many heart defects that seem to be pretty bad.

We are praying for mending and healing of baby Cohen's heart. We are most important praying that those pulmonary veins are there. We are praying that God will do what he is going to do and we hope and pray that consists of baby Cohen doing good with his surgeries and becoming well enough to be at his home with his family.

It is still a lot to think about. I don't think it's going to stop being a lot. We are coming to terms with it more so and just accepting it for what it is. We will/would/and are going to love our baby no matter what.

I just hate the not knowing what is and what will be. That is the hardest part.

Oh, if you are lost, you can check out "Cohen's Story" on my right sidebar.

Yesterday, baby Cohen received something in the mail from my sweet friend, Katheryn!

How cute is this monogrammed shortall? I love it! The colors are great together. Cohen is going to look pretty stinking cute in it.
I like his monogram :) The one above has his last name in center and this precious number from Jill has his middle name in the center. Cohen is actually his middle name :) Michael is his first. Our last name also begins with an M. So, Michael Cohen M........ :) loves.



Here is the fact sheet I mentioned above..

Congenital Heart Defects in Children Fact Sheet

What is a congenital heart defect?
Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple problems, such as "holes" between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.

Is all heart disease in children congenital?
No, but most is. These defects are usually but not always diagnosed early in life. Rarely, heart disease is not congenital but may occur during childhood such as heart damage due to infection. This type of heart disease is called acquired; examples include Kawasaki disease and rheumatic fever. Children also can be born with or develop heart rate problems such as slow, fast, or irregular heart beats, known as "arrhythmias".

Who is at risk to have a child with a congenital heart defect?
Anyone can have a child with a congenital heart defect. Out of 1,000 births, nine babies will have some form of congenital heart disorder, most of which are mild. If you or other family members have already had a baby with a heart defect, your risk of having a baby with heart disease may be higher.

How many people in the United States have a congenital heart defect?
About 650,000 to 1.3 million Americans have a congenital heart defect. Approximately 36,000 babies are born with a defect each year.

Why do congenital heart defects occur?
Most of the time we do not know. Although the reason defects occur is presumed to be genetic, only a few genes have been discovered that have been linked to the presence of heart defects. Rarely the ingestion of some drugs and the occurrence of some infections during pregnancy can cause defects.

How can I tell if my baby or child has a congenital heart defect?
Severe heart disease generally becomes evident during the first few months after birth. Some babies are blue or have very low blood pressure shortly after birth. Other defects cause breathing difficulties, feeding problems, or poor weight gain. Minor defects are most often diagnosed on a routine medical check up. Minor defects rarely cause symptoms. While most heart murmurs in children are normal, some may be due to defects.

How serious is the problem?
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect and are the number one cause of death from birth defects during the first year of life. Nearly twice as many children die from congenital heart disease in the United States each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined. In 2005, 192,000 life-years were lost before age 55 in the United States due to congenital heart disease. In 2004, hospital costs totaled $2.6 billion.

Are things improving?
Definitely. Overall mortality has significantly declined over the past few decades. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s the risk of dying following congenital heart surgery was about 30 percent and today it is around 5 percent.

How well can people with congenital heart defects function?
Virtually all children with simple defects survive into adulthood. Although exercise capacity may be limited, most people lead normal or nearly normal lives. For more complex lesions, limitations are common. Some children with congenital heart disease have developmental delay or other learning difficulties.

What is the social/financial impact of congenital heart defects?
Successful treatment requires highly specialized care. Severe congenital heart disease requires extensive financial resources both in and out of the hospital. Children with developmental delay also require community and school-based resources to achieve optimum functioning.

What is the impact of congenital heart disease on families?
The presence of a serious congenital heart defect often results in an enormous emotional and financial strain on young families at a very vulnerable time. Patient/family education is an important part of successful coping.

Where can I get additional information?
You can get additional information from the American Heart Association. You can reach them by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1 (1-800-242-8721) or at www.americanheart.org/children.


We really have so many friends and family that are stepping in to try and help us or come up with ways to help us. Not only friends and family, but people we have never even met. It really is a blessing to have so many people out there who care. We appreciate all of you!!

Brent's grandma is doing good and gets to come home from the hospital tomorrow. That is good news!

happy almost weekend :)

What we've been up to....

Greetings :)

First off, don't forget to enter my first giveaway!! I'll be drawing a winner on Sunday.

This is kind of a last weekend and this week recap.

Last weekend, the weather was bizarre. I had a garage sale on Friday and it was nice and sunny. Saturday, we woke up to snow! I made pancakes and we laid around for a long time. We watched the Family Man with Nicolas Cage. Can you believe I had never seen the movie? I know. I really liked it. I then began to pack up some boxes and space bags with clothes.

Friday night, my friend Kristen informed me that Old Navy was having a 30% off friends and family sale. She said they had cute things. Well, the sale ended on Sunday so I called Old Navy because I didn't have a coupon nor a printer at our house to print one off. The girl who answered the phone said they would find one for me. I don't know what really made me think I'd find anything. So Saturday afternoon, hubs thawed out the car and took me to Old Navy. I think he only agreed to this as I came up with the idea to pick up a pizza on the way home for dinner :o) Anyways, none of the Old Navy's here carry maternity clothing. In fact, maybe it is an only online thing? Not sure. I honestly haven't bought many maternity clothes at all, mostly just some tees and tanks. Don't get me wrong, I don't fit into normal pants except the yoga-like ones I've mentioned before. I have cute hand-me-downs so I've been quite lucky. I wear lots of cardigans so I can wear long comfy sleeveless tanks underneath.

So, we get to Old Navy and I tell Brent that I will be quick. So, he wants to sit in car to keep it warm. Well, I don't even know what possessed me to try on some of the things I did. I guess simply the fact I had not tried on any restrictive clothing in quite some time. Needless to say, he ended up coming inside. When I say restrictive I mean something with a seam that does not stretch! Old Navy has some SUPER cute dresses right now. Some though, have the seams that don't allow a few growing parts on my body to fit. Then, the dresses that did fit, made me feel like I put on a moo moo. In my mind, I simply thought I don't need anything right now so let's think about the months right after baby Cohen is born. So although the dresses they have right now are so cute, I couldn't talk myself into buying any when I just don't need them nor know when I'll be able to wear them. So, I picked up the things below instead. They were ALL on sale PLUS I got 30% off. So I walked out of there almost spending nothing.

linen blend boyfriend shirt. I thought this would allow easy access once Cohen is born. I was very hesitant to even say that because I know more men out there...some I know and some I don't..are reading. Sorry guys, you will hear girly, pregnant, momma type things on this blog! haha I got the shirt in black as well.

I got the below cropped cardigan possibly for my maternity pics. I also got the one brown one below it. I needed options and my mother-in-law, who will be taking the pics, said find something of the sort. So I got the black and brown, both cropped tops, and thought we could go from there. I'm usually not a cropped kind of person but totally makes sense for maternity pictures. (the white tank is not attached as shown in picture)

I like these a lot. I like that the lace is wide. They are comfy.

We got home from Old Navy with our pizza and decided to watch The Proposal. We both thought it was pretty cute. I really liked it. We watched The Ugly Truth the other night and I didn't think it was near as good as the Proposal.

About 30 minutes into the movie, our brother-in-law called and asked if wanted to go for a ride in a limo. We were both kind of like nooooo... we are warm and full and we will pass. Well, he said he had the girls (our nieces) with him. So 5 seconds later, I have hubby call back and tell them to come get us. BIL's brother went to a concert and the limo had a few hours to spare so he had the limo pick them up so the girls could play. His neighbor and their two kids came as well. They picked us up and we went for ice cream.

hubs and tatum..silly

cute nieces

Yes, there is a boy(their neighbor) under there. They ganged up on him!

told ya..

Sunday, more work on the house! It was also Tatum's 5th birthday so we had a little get together for her. I'll post that soon.

Don't let any of these precious people or fun pics fool you, we've pretty much been busting our bottoms to get our house fixed up!

I literally could not feel my feet when I finally sat down at 5 today. I feel like I've worked out for the first time in like 2 years. I'm sore. The realtor and photographer came at 4 today. The sign is in the yard! It is a pretty weird feeling. We bought our first home almost 3 years ago and now it's for sale. I think the more we've done and fixed it up to look good, the harder it became. We spent time in all of the rooms. I think we will get over it quickly though. We've gotten through the first hard part. Now, the next hard part will be the next transition.

The realtor was very impressed with the house. She told me not to be surprised if it sold quickly. Well, surprised or not surprised, I pray it sells quick!!

Hubby has done just as much as I have! However, there are some things...well, a lot of things, that only I can/must do!  Elton pretends to help. He typically just finds a blanket or laundry to sit on.....

Last night I heard some strange noise and walked down the hallway to find this....

I often forget hubby has this guitar. It needs an adjustment or whatever you call that for a guitar.

My dad came in last night to help us do some things around the house. My mom sent us goodies....

I like the combination..Easter candy, fruit & crackers. I like the Ritz Crackerfuls. I have not tried all the flavors but I soon will :p

We sold one of our cars! This is a HUGE blessing. We loved the X5 but with our current situation it was a smart decision. It will be very helpful to us.

As of a few hours ago, Brent's grandma was still in ICU. The nurse said she was doing good so hopefully she will move rooms soon and we can go see her tomorrow.

I was given and notified about two blog awards a week or so ago. Sweet bloggers!

Mandy at Tickled Pink awarded me the Happy 101 award! Thank you, Mandy :)

the rules:
1.) When you have received this award you must thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.
2.) Name the 10 things that make you happy
3.) Pass this award on to 10 other bloggers and inform the winners

**I skip the passing of the award. I've always had such a hard time picking and really, everyone deserves the award :)

10 Things that Make Me Happy

1. my 3 boys - hubby, baby cohen (in belly) & doggie elton
2. great family
3. great friends
4. relaxing nights with my boys
5. people being so kind
6. holidays
7. blogging
8. hanging out with my friends
9. NYC
10. happy surprises

Shelley over at Hand In Hand also gave me a Sunshine Award :) Thanks lady!

I think that is about it for now. We go to our OB in the morning and I'll do a Prego Mego post tomorrow night.