brings tears to my eyes

Reagan is the best little girl! I mean it! Whenever I take the time to sit and think about all that she has gone through in her 2 1/2 years, it makes me cry. She has dealt with more in her life than I have with mine, and that just doesn't seem right. But the amazing part is how wonderful she is through it all. She is so trusting and understanding. She never gets mad that Kennedy doesn't have to do breathing treatments like she does, or take all the medicines she does, or do all the tests she does. She just does it all happily.

A couple weeks ago she had another Lung Function Test. She had to drink some nasty stuff that knocked her out, and then they hook her up to this.


The test took about an hour and a half, and for part of it she has to be enclosed in the glass box you see at the bottom right side of this picture.

Then after the test they force her to wake up enough to swallow, then she can go home. But the medicine took the whole night to wear off, she had to crawl everywhere when she eventually woke up because she was so tipsy.

So why am I showing you these? To ask you to please donate to the CF Foundation. We have a week left to raise money and have not reached our goal yet. Please donate here, even a few dollars can make a difference. We went to a dinner tonight to learn about the advances in CF care. One speaker told us that it costs approximately $900 million to take a drug through research to mass production. They have a drug in trial phases that could have a huge impact on Reagan's life. I am so proud of my little girl, and I just want her to have the best life she can.

chicago

I hate AT&T. They have the worst service ever! We went over two weeks without internet because they messed up our account and couldn't fix it without disconnecting and reconnecting our service. So, now that our internet is back up and running, I can post the pics from our trip to Chicago.

Rick had training in Chicago for two weeks, so the girls and I drove down for the weekend. It was a super quick trip, and man was I exhausted when it was over. We got there Friday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon. During our 48 hours, we tried to cram as much touristy stuff in as possible.

We started off friday by taking the girls to the Rainforest Cafe. Nice atmosphere, horrible food. The girls both loved the fish, and Rick took this sweet picture of Kennedy.

Reagan didn't really care to look at me, apparently there were more exciting things to look at.

Reagan loved meeting the giant frog, I can't remember his name.

Reagan even gave the frog a hug, sort-of.

Saturday morning we took a long route to the Temple.

We went to Navy Pier and visited the Children's museum. Reagan and Kennedy mainly loved the water exhibit, and were both soaking afterwards.

The raincoats were way too big for Kennedy, so I just rolled up her sleeves and let her soak us both.
They probably could've spent hours in there.

Kennedy in the dinosaur dig.

Reagan and Daddy finding dinosaur bones.

Kennedy loved the little baby area.

And I do mean loved it!

Reagan working hard on her masterpiece in the Crayola art place.

We let each of the girls pick out an animal at the Build-a-Bear workshop. Reagan, of course, chose the only green stuffed animal, a frog. Kennedy chose a soft, pink teddy bear. We let Reagan name both of them. The frog is "Gringo" and the bear is "Toogy."

We also managed to go to the Cheesecake Factory and the Grand Lux restaurant. Both of which had super yummy food, and great service! At the Grand Lux, Reagan really wanted pineapple, so I asked our waiter if there was any chance they had some. He went to the bar and swiped some for us. And the Cheesecake Factory gives complimentary banana slices and bread to the kids. Plus, they have really good cheesecake!

The girls were exhausted when we left, and were asleep shortly. That was a relief. They slept until just before Kalamazoo, where we stopped and had dinner with my cousin Steve and his awesome girlfriend Jill.

The only downside to the trip was the weather, rain and snow - yuck! But I definitely got a workout carrying the girls around Chicago. Oh, and Reagan thought the guy playing the guitar while we waited for the Subway was so fun! She danced and entertained the crowd.

a little more catch-up

Reagan and Kennedy are really starting to play together more these days. It is so much fun to catch them in their little "sister moments." Sometimes in the car they will start talking to each other in gibberish and laughing hysterically. They are extremely different, but are both wonderful in their own ways! Here are a few snapshots I got of them in the past month or so.

I picked up an Easter egg dye kit for Reagan to experiment with. It was one of the last things she got to do with Rick before he left for Chicago. Two weeks is an extremely long time to be without a husband!

We went to the Hartland splash and play with Aunt Becky to prepare the girls for our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. They had a blast! And now whenever anyone mentions a pool Reagan asks if Becky is coming to play!

In February all of Rick's family made it back to Michigan for a little reunion. It was great to be able to spend so much time with everyone! Reagan still talks about Addison frequently. Sorry Brayden and Bryce, I think Addie is her favorite! We can't wait till we can see everyone again, and wish it was sooner!

Reagan's best pals Hayden and Mason turned two in January, and they had a great party! We are so lucky to have such great friends who also have great kids the same age as ours!

Now all I have left is our pictures from Chicago. Hopefully I can post those soon! We are going to go take advantage of the warmer weather and hit the library and park! See you soon!

great wolf lodge

Well I am always waaaaay behind on posting here, sorry about that. Here is a photo journey of our trip to Great Wolf Lodge with our good pals the Prossers and the Rolls...

The kids having fun on the bed when we first arrived at the hotel.

Reagan and Kennedy really enjoyed the water - phew!

Reagan was so happy to finally be able to go to the pool!

They had a little lazy river that we all enjoyed, it was nice to relax!

Kennedy on the little kid slide!

Reagan on the slide too!

Rick attempting the lily pads. (Thats Adam at the end cheering him on.)

One of the kids' favorite spots, out of the water where all the basketballs were. (Even though you can't see the balls in this picture.)

The men, of course, managed a little bball game of their own. I think Mitch won.

Reagan really enjoyed splashing Kennedy, luckily Kennedy is a good sport about it!

Kennedy LOVES water!

The ladies!

Reagan and Hayden holding hands on the way out of the hotel.

We went to the park one day, and the lake was still frozen - so weird!

Reagan and Kennedy loved the beach!

Kennedy got a chance to swing.

Me and my girlies!

Steph reading to Reagan at the cub club.

The kids were amazed by the park!

The kids found the rocks in the souvenier shop.

The kids loved playing in the wolf den part of the room.

Skyler and Reagan enjoying a little Pinnochio while the boys were still sleeping.

I was reading to Skyler, and Reagan had to join us!

Kennedy at the children's museum, which was actually super cool for the kids (and adults!)

Reagan coloring at the museum.

We had so much fun with our friends. Reagan has since asked me numerous times if we could go to Great Wolf Lodge and the museum again!

dear ellen

I have had a lot of people tell me that Reagan needs to be on a talk show or something because of her ability to read. I have thought about it off and on, and could not really decide what to do. Steph called me one morning to tell me that Regis and Kelly were doing a search for whiz kids, and thought I should enter Reagan. Then Molly pointed out that Ellen films in California, which would be way cooler to travel to. So I finally decided to make a video to submit to Ellen in her search for talented kids. I know it is probably a long shot, especially since the website said they are looking for videos to show on their show. But, hey, if Reagan got a free trip to California because of it, that would be totally awesome. Plus, any way of raising awareness about CF is completely worth it in my book. So here it is, my video trying to convince Ellen that Reagan should be on her show. It is 10 minutes long I think, so don't feel bad if you don't have time to watch it. I just wanted to share it, in case she never makes it on TV!

the best medicine

Yesterday was a wopping 45 degrees! So we took advantage of it! We spent an hour and a half at the park, and the girls still didn't want to leave. But it had been over two hours since Reagan had gone potty and there wasn't a restroom around, so I didn't want to chance her needing to go. The girls were in super good moods (so was I), and they both took good naps afterward! Rick and I even took turns running last night, and it was PERFECT running weather! I forgot how much I LOVE running outside! The last time I ran outside was November, so I didn't know how far I would get. Surprisingly, I made it 1.5 miles, and only stopped because it was getting really dark outside. Apparently doing a workout video 1-2 times a week combined with 1 day a week of basketball keeps me in better shape than I expected! Maybe Molly and I will actually be able to run a 10k or half marathon this year after all! It is already 52 degrees outside this morning, and I am sooooo excited! We are going to go spend the afternoon at the Park with Molly and Kalli, and maybe I can even fit in another run this morning! I LOVE spring (even though it isn't really here yet). Warm weather and sunshine can cure just about everything for me!