Christian's 7th birthday!

Seven sounds so big to me. I can't believe my first born is seven years old. I can't believe that it was seven years ago I became a mom. Seems like yesterday. Where does the time go? (sniff sniff)

July 8th Christian woke up to a surprise breakfast of strawberry muffins (his favorite) and we sang Happy Birthday. Check out that "bed head".


Christian wanted to go to Van Buren for his birthday celebration and had a few requests on his list....off roading, chicken legs for lunch, police stuff for presents and go swimming. With the help of our amazing family, he got all his birthday wishes to come true!

Christian with his gifts from Mom, Dad and Andrew. :) Even though we weren't having his party until Saturday, I let him pick out one gift to open on his birthday.

Andrew was standing by to see the surprise...

I love this look of surprise when he got a gift sack full of police cars!

NYPD police car set. 'Cause that's how I roll. ;)

Friday night, we met up with some of my friends Beth and Dawn with her kiddos at Pizza Parlour in Van Buren. A place that brings back lots of fun memories...and good pizza. ;)

Kinley and Andrew "dining" together!

Presley and Christian (I think Christian is giving Beth a hard time in this pic)
I wish I had got one of Dawn, Beth and I but we were too busy talking and taking care of the kiddos!

Saturday morning, Christian got to go "off roading". Pops took us all out in the Trailblazer to some family property where Uncle Will built a cabin for hunting. Christian loved going through the rough gravel and dirt roads to get there. Andrew had fun too!

Pops and Christian

Christian on the porch of Uncle Will's cabin in the woods

Jim admiring all the rustic touches that Will added to the cabin. We loved it!

The boys making themselves at home in the cabin. This couch used to be Jim's parents when he was growing up. It got passed down to us when we were first married and now Will made a home for it in his cabin. Glad to see it has survived! haha!

Andrew checking out the ladder to the loft where the sleeping area is located.
Christian thought the cabin was awesome and could not wait to spend the night out there with his Uncle Will.

Time to head back for the birthday party!

Time for the big reveal of the big present Jim and I got for Christian...

His own police car! He wants to be a police officer when he grows up! Of course, that changes from wanting to be an ice road trucker or storm chaser but at the top of the list is a policeman. :)


It has two seats so Andrew can ride too! With a 150 lbs weight limit, I could even drive it! These boys will have fun with this car for a long time! Christian LOVED it!

It even has its own sirens and loud speaker. He spent the rest of the morning writing us all tickets and patroling the driveway. :)

Ready for opening presents!

Andrew was excited to help his big brother with his gifts! He kept saying "WOW! WOW!"

Christian was so excited to get his Lego police station from Pops and GoGo!

And Lego firetruck from Uncle John! (Andrew shouting "WOW"!)

So happy to get "cash" from Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Wrenn!

A big bag of fireworks from Uncle Will!

And a few other surprises too!

Time for cake!

I designed this cake myself! I got a couple Hot Wheels police cars, badge, and toy handcuffs to make a "police" cake that Christian wanted! He loved it!


Grandmother and Andrew enjoying their cake together!

Playtime!

Time for a swim!

Getting kisses from my sweet boy!

Christian loves to jump in the pool!

Andrew taking a water break

That night, we went to dinner at Cracker Barrel, Christian's choice. He says he loves "country cooking restaurants". That's my boy. ;)

Later that night, Jim and Christian let off all the fireworks that Uncle Will gave him. This picture cracks me up of them looking down at a little flame that I think was a snake. Christian's favorites were the small fountains and giant sparklers.

When we got home on Sunday, Christian could not wait to get started on his Lego kits!
Thank you to all of our wonderful family for making his birthday celebration so special!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTIAN!

Christian and Owen Fun Day!

For Christian's birthday this year, he decided he wanted to have a day of fun with his best buddy Owen! So while Andrew was at MDO, I took the boys to Christian's favorite places!

First stop...Chuck E. Cheese for games!

For lunch...Taco Bell. Christian LOVES their tacos! :)

After lunch, I surprised Christian with a cookie cake from his favorite "snack" place...Great American Cookie Company!

He loves their sugar cookies!

Enjoying cookie cake at the Promenade!

And finally, some swimming at our neighborhood pool! The boys had so much fun playing "water patrol". They both want to be police officers when they grow up. ;)
Owen says, "Christian, when you turn 18 meet me at the Bella Vista police station and we will go to work!" Too funny! So glad Christian got to spend the day with his best friend to celebrate his birthday!

4th of July!

This 4th of July was the first year that Van Buren did not do a fireworks show. We were all pretty disappointed when we heard the news just a few weeks ago. We always look forward to sitting on the bluff at Jim's parent's house and getting the best view in town. So this year, we stayed home and went to the Bella Vista fireworks show on July 3rd.

We got a great spot by the road to set up our chairs and a blanket to watch the show at Loch Lomond dam.

Christian took this picture of me and Jim. :)

The fireworks show was really good. Christian loved it! Thanks to Hope for babysitting Andrew so we could have our late night outing!

Brotherly love!

Dressed up for the 4th of July!

Me and my big boy!

Our plan was to attend a parade in Bella Vista but we had a downpour of rain that morning so we stayed home. The rain cleared after lunch so Jim took Christian to play golf!
After golf, they joined us for a swim at our neighborhood pool. It was HOT!

After cleaning up and eating burgers from the grill for dinner, Jim did some little fireworks for the boys before Andrew went to bed. ;)


The boys enjoying juice boxes while Jim lit up various smoke bombs, hens laying eggs, tanks, etc. Andrew enjoyed them a lot! The boys loved throwing the "crack pops" at the ground in the driveway too! Hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!

Update on Elizabeth

Elizabeth has been doing well in the days following her heart surgery. She has been removed from the ventilator and is now breathing on her own. She also took her first bottle this past weekend! Such good news! She was even wearing her pink hairbow!

Keep lifting up those wonderful prayers for Elizabeth!

Surgery a Success!

Our family would like to thank everyone for all the prayers that have been (and continue) to be lifted up for Elizabeth. Her surgery was this morning at 7am and was complete by 1pm. So far, she is doing well. Prayers need to continue for the next 48 hours as this recovery time is critical. Thanks so much to all of our friends and family!
I wanted to share with you the message Kimberly just sent out to everyone this evening...

Hello Friends!!!      As many of you know and some of you are about to learn, our precious daughter Elizabeth Ann was born this past Thursday, June 30th, at 1:50pm. She looks like a beautiful female version of her handsome big brother :)       Shortly after her birth, we were shocked to learn of a very serious congenital heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries. By 8pm the evening of her birth, she was on a ventilator in an ambulance on her way to Dallas. We had a very hard time saying good-night and letting her go, but we had much hope in our hearts.        On Friday, I received an early discharge, stopped by the house to see big brother Robert and headed down to reunite with my newly born daughter. It already seemed like we had been apart so long. Through many tears, Wrenn and I enjoyed admiring our beautiful daughter.          Then came Saturday. I do not really remember Saturday. It was a whirlwind of information and what ifs.          On Sunday, we had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Mendelhoff, the surgeon that would be restructuring Elizabeth's heart so that she could live a long, full life with us. However, he presented us with some very scary news. Her coronary arteries were abnormally abnormal and there was no plan B if something went awry on the operating table.         For obvious reasons, Monday was a long day for us. We wondered if it was our last full day with our already much loved daughter. We knew most everyone we knew were praying for us, and this provided great hope for us.        And finally, today was here! We arrived at the hospital at 5am and were allowed to hold our special daughter for a few precious moments each. We walked her down the hall and gave her our love as she headed into the operating room. It was so hard to truly give our daughter to someone else.        Then came 6 of the longest hours of our lives. We were given hourly updates by the nurse practitioner, and we were thrilled to hear of each hurdle our daughter had cleared. We cried tears of joy when we learned her coronaries connected and we celebrated when we heard her heart was beating on its own again. She was still with us!          We were given literally seconds to see our Little Elizabeth as she passed through the hallway with a parade of professionals keeping her alive. It was a truly awesome moment. We shall never forget it.       Then, there were two more hours to wait to see her again. She had to be hooked up to all kinds of monitors and machines. She had to prove herself somewhat stable, and she did. We got to see her again!        Now she is sweetly sleeping in a heavily sedated state. Her vital signs are variable -- but still present. She is in the very critical 48-hour period of time following her surgery, and we are continuing to pray. And pray. And pray.        I want to thank each of you for praying for our sweet Little Elizabeth and to beg that you continue to do so in the coming days and weeks ahead. We look forward to the day we get to hold her and rock her and cherish her here at our home. Until then, we are praying and hoping for all the best for our Little Elizabeth. Thank you for doing the same! Sincerely,  Kimberly

Prayers for Elizabeth!

The past couple weeks, we have been anxiously awaiting the birth of our niece, Elizabeth. Kimberly and Wrenn have been counting the days. Christian and I even drove down to Plano, TX last week when Kimberly thought she was having her, but doctors said she was not ready. ;)

But we did get to spend some time visiting with my nephew Robert!

Christian LOVED helping take care of Robert!

Sweet cousins!

Finally the day came that Elizabeth would be born! Christian and I left Bella Vista at 7am and got to Plano, TX by noon!

We made in just in time!

Wrenn and Kimberly getting ready to deliver Elizabeth!

Elizabeth Ann Wooten
born June 30th at 1:50pm
6 lbs 10 oz.


Kimberly did great! She only had to push twice!

Shortly after Elizabeth was born, she was having trouble breathing on her own. They said it was probably just fluid in her lungs and they took her to the NICU for observation. Wrenn quickly followed the team of nurses to be with Elizabeth. But not before they allowed Kimberly to hold Elizabeth for a moment to bond...

I was able to snap this quick picture of Elizabeth and Kimberly. Her sweet little face and big eyes! Precious!

A couple hours after being in the NICU, they discovered that Elizabeth was born with a heart defect called Transposition of the Great Arteries. Where the left one is on the right and vice versa. She will have to undergo open heart surgery to correct it. We were all in shock. Kimberly and Wrenn have been very strong through this ordeal the past couple of days but are emotionally and physically exhausted. I ask that all of you who keep up with my blog to please pray for Elizabeth. Pray that she stays strong and has a successful surgery. This surgery has a high rate of success so we are all very hopeful and putting it into God's hands. He can heal! She was transported to Medical City Children's Hospital in Dallas where the surgery will take place at 7am on Tuesday. Thank you all for the many emails, texts, phone calls, etc. I received the past few days. We appreciate all the prayers more than you could ever know.
Please continue to pray for Elizabeth!
Thank you!