Diapers and Deadlines

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Hunting We Will Go!

The kiddos and I had a great day celebrating Easter Sunday with gorgeous weather, a great meal at Tim's parents, and a fun egg hunt! Tim was in Texas for the weekend for a good friend's wedding so he missed most of the fun (and choas of being home alone with the muchkins all weekend!). We were all happy to see Timmy walk in the door that night :)

Worship at church was powerful, as always, but especially energetic on Easter. Do you ever stop and think about how amazing God's grace and mercy are?! And it's all for us! I need to more often, that's for sure. We are saved by an incredible God! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

NOLA!!

NOLA was Tim's idea. He plans the best vacations and I'm happy to have him as my tour guide! He never disappoints with the activities he plans and his thoughtful itineraries. We both agreed that it was the best vacation we've been on since our honeymoon. And it was only three days - he did good :)

If you don't mind driving and need a fun, quick, adult-geared getaway you need to go to New Orleans. So here's a rundown of our adventure...

- swamp tour - we spent 2 hours on a boat tour of a private canal/bayou with lots to see and a fantastic guide who taught us the difference between Cajun and creole living, lots of alligators!

- French Quarter - we stayed just a block away so we spent a majority of our time here watching street performers, walking up and down Bourbon Street (side note - if you want to see anything and everything this will surely get you there...wow...unqiue is not even the word!), listening to live excellent live music, and eating, lots of eating (milkshakes for lunch, french doughnuts late at night, french doughnuts for breakfast, gumbo, fried food - you know - vacation style eating!!)

- cooking class - this might have been my favorite part of the trip. Tim booked us for a really fun 2 hour class on authentic creole cooking - jambalaya, gumbo, bread pudding, and pralines. Yummo!!!! So excited to try the recipes she taught us and see if I can get close to how amazing it all tasted!

- Garden District - we rode NOLA's famous streetcars for a couple hours to a beautiful area that has amazing homes and awesome scenery

We did a TON of stuff in the two full days we were there. We even managed to lay out at the pool for an hour...well, we just napped really :) I missed the kids terribly while we were gone, but it was a really great trip. It felt so nice to reconnect with Timmy…in the craziness of working and caring for three energetic children it gets harder to find the quiet moments with each other.

Huge thanks to our friends, the Blettner's, for corralling our furry child for four days, and Tim's parents who managed our little Kegley's while we were gone!!!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Gator Hunt

We're in the midst of our first childless vacation in New Orleans and loving every minute if it!! This city is SO unique!

We spent the first part of our day roaming the bayou in Laplace, LA. We went on a guided swamp tour that took us up and down the bayou on a tour boat. The guide was super knowledgable and a true Cajun! We saw lots of gators, big and small, all kinds of birds, turtles, lizards, and snakes. Quite a science lesson! And who knew that gators like marshmallows?! That's what the guide uses to attract them to the boat and they were happy to have the treats!

More pictures and details to come!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Spring?!

We have been taking full advantage of the warm weather the past two weeks and getting in lots of walks, playing in the yard, letting fresh air in the house, and watching the start of our new patio out back. The kids LOVE being outside no matter the temperature so I'm thankful it's now bearable for me to be out with them!

Hope you're enjoying this beautiful weather, too!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

"Istakes"

Thanks to a little confusion on surgery dates we're spending a day off with our firstborn. The plastic surgeon's office sent us the wrong date in our paperwork for surgery, which we didn't know until we showed up to the hospital this morning. A little annoyed!!

Oh well, we turned it into a good day, stopped at his favorite park, had lunch at his favorite restaurant (Chick-fil-A), and took the opportunity to teach Grant a lesson on people making mistakes, or as he likes to call them, "Istakes". It happens, but we told him just to make sure he says sorry when they do.

So, now we'll wait until April 12th :)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Another Round

Thursday morning, Grant will have his third of (hopefully) four surgeries related to the scalp nevus he was born with. It's been a humbling experience and he has done remarkably well through it all. We're so hopeful that this time through will close almost the entire scar and the fourth surgery in the fall will just make it almost unnoticeable.

I'm a teeny bit anxious about tomorrow realizing that he's at the age where he will remember the hospital and what went on there 6 months ago. But, we've been talking a lot about it, looking at his head in the mirror showing him what's going to happen, and he seems ready to go.

Please pray for our sweet Grant that it's as uneventful as last time!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Not the Mom, Just the Stork

Sooooo....

I'm about to take you all on a little adventure. Huge, actually. Want to come along?? I think you might :)

Check it out: http://www.faithhopesurrogacy.blogspot.com/

Thursday, March 15, 2012

9 Months

Sam the Man is offically 9 months old! He is just the sweetest little thing. To catch you up on what he's been into:

- has 6 teeth and likes to bite...mommy especially - OUCH!

- started sleeping through the night last week...it only took 8 and a half months!
- loves watching his brother and sister play near him - you can tell he's ready to get in on the action soon

- got pink eye for the first time this week :(

- started at a new daycare last Monday and made the transition with no problems - we love it there!

Love you Sammy!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Round Three

We're nearing the end of Grant's journey with surgeries to remove the scar his nevus left three years ago. His third out of four total procedures is scheduled for next Thursday. Based on how well he did in September I don't think we're nervous at all, but it's still a little scary. He's a brave little guy! If you would, please keep Grant in your prayers on the 22nd :) We'll be sure to keep you updated!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Some Answers

Not that I meant to keep you all waiting, but we got Grant's results back from the sleep study about a month ago. We are so thankful and relieved that everything physical (seizures, sleep apnea, etc.) was completely ruled out as a cause of his disrupted sleep. The episodes that they captured during the sleep study were classic nightmares and night terror activity. There's no cause we can pinpoint as to why he's been having them so frequently and the only prevention is healthy sleep habits (trust me...we've worked hard to keep that structure!). The only other thing a little less than "average" for a child Grant's age was his light sleeping. No surprise with me as his mama!

So, we're at peace with it. Our attitudes have changed about it. We no longer freak out when the bad nights happen, we just work to get through it. He still has disrupted sleep three or four nights a week, but we're realizing that it could be much worse. He'll grow out of this...it could be next month, or 10 years from now, but at least we know there's an end to it for him.

Sleep, to an outsider, for the Kegleys is not the usual, but we're making it our normal and learning to accept it. Grant and Lilly crawl into bed with us EVERY night around midnight or 1am. Sam is STILL not sleeping through the night at almost nine months. He'll still cry for an hour before he puts himself back to sleep or I give in to him. Then he's up at 4:30 or 5 every morning. Oh, the saga continues :)

You know what though? On the days like today, when Sam woke up at 4:18 with no hope of going back to sleep, we make the best of it. We're sitting in the living room right now together in the dark with a little Bollywood style music on the music channels dancing in front of the mirror. He's loving it :)