Our family has been thinking of creative ways to raise money this year for great strides.  Reason being is its hard to keep getting consistent donations from everyone, every year.  We have already hosted a chicken bbq that brought in $800.  This saturday at the local maple syrup festival pancake sausage breakfast we are going to have a booth set up to sell homemade noodles.  Seans family and I have been working really hard on these.  It was a lot of fun for Ethan too.  He helped roll and pat the dough!  These noodles are DELICIOUS!  I am sure we are going to sell out.  

Here are a few pics to enjoy of the noodle making process!!  We are so Martha Stewart!  If youre in our area come buy some!

Lots of others helped on different days but of course I forgot  the camera. :)

I hate CF but.....

 I HATE CF but….

It has strengthened my faith

It has taught me how to pray out loud

It has drawn my husband and I closer

It has taught me to love my sons so deeply

It has taught me that I am not in control, God is

It has given me the chance to sit everyday with Ethan during treatment for special time.

It has taught me to be thankful everyday

It has shown me how amazingly blessed we are with a great support system of family and friends

It has given me CF momma/daddy friends; I don’t know how I would do it without them

It has taught me to live life to the fullest

I hate CF but…maybe this was a blessing in disguise….

Ethans clinic

Ethan had clinic today and much to my surprise he gained weight!!  I was so happy... We have been trying since he was very little to get him to the 50th percentile but he has always been stuck in the 25th.  Well today he is showing improvement in that, he is now 35th! I think much of it is impart to giving him an ensure every night before bed.  I recently just changed from pedisure to ensures because I found some weight gain shakes that are for adults and since he is nearly two that's ok.  These babies have 350 calories in them!

He also had good sounding lungs.  He did so well when the doctor wanted to listen to his lungs and even said ah when she wanted to look in his mouth.  He was just loving the attention from everyone there today. 

There was a little fluid on his ear but nothing thats causing a problem.  Our doctor also said she was very impressed with my request several months back for hypertonic saline.  She said most parents do not understand that sometimes adding a medication can be a good thing and that being aggressive is key.  I had asked to start this after reading several other CF children's success with it.  She said that most parents have bad luck with the saline because the kids fight a little bit but once they get used to it, its very helpful.  I am not one of those parents who lets the child call all the shots and now Ethan will sit and do his treatment on his own and even hold his own mask without a fight.  Although sometimes he sets it down a second to raise his arms above his head to yell blast off!  (We watch little Einsteins during treatment.)  I figured thats ok. 

Afterwards our treat was to go to walmart and pick out a small toy.  Ethan picked out a little truck for doing so well.  Then we met my grandma for lunch at applebees were he indulged in a chicken strip meal.  He of course ate almost all of it.  We always try to do something fun and positive after clinics for a positive spin.

All in all it was a great clinic... and I am a happy mama!

Liam is 3 Months!

Just last week my littlest man turned three months old!  A day before he was 3 months old he rolled from stomach to back.  He is growing up way to fast if you ask me!  He is so close from rolling from back to stomach.  Liam is so much fun.  He is really starting to show his little personality.  His fav thing is to watch his big brother or his mobile.  He talks and coos like crazy.  Its hard to believe he is three months old already.

Liam is exceptionally large for his age. 98th percentile!  Which is crazy!  Ethan is only the 20-25th and its a struggle to keep him there.  Liam is nearly ready for 6-9 months but i am going to keep him in the 3-6 as long as possible. He has so many clothes that he hasnt gotten enough wear out of yet. I am thinking that soon they will be sharing clothes... and diaper sizes hahaha. 

Everyday I praise the Lord for my boys and their health.  They are both such an amazing blessing in my life.  I am so grateful for them.  Its so neat to watch them grown and turn into awesome little boys!

Nelson's Chicken Fund raiser

This last weekend we teamed up with Nelson's Golden Glo chicken to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Nelsons is amazing chicken!   The smell of it cooking is enough to make your mouth start water.,... mine is just thinking about it.  The owner of the company has been selecting not for profit organizations to team up with to help them out.  My father in law is a cooker for them part time and asked if we could do it for the CFF. 

It was a big success!  We sold all 416 halves that were cooked and almost all of our pit taters.  We sold from 10-3 and around 130 when we had 200 halves left we were getting nervous.. But the people just kept coming.  Some said the smell of the chicken is a sign of spring!  It was a very cold day, but we brought in around $800 for the CFF 

I recruited my cousins to help and they were so energetic and did a great job.  Gwen was doing cart wheels by the road and yelling the whole time with her brother Wade.. And Sydney helped run to cars and take orders.  It was a great day... Just cold :)

Thank you to everyone who helped... Wanda, Ken, Karen, Melanie, My Dad, and Donna!
My poor dad barely made it.. he went into the ditch on the way down but made it just in time!

CF Wine Opener

This weekend we headed to Indy for the Cystic Fibrosis Wine Opener.  It was an amazing time and I was reminded again but how incredibly blessed we are to have such an amazing group of friends to support us.  I am not sure how we would get through this without our family and friends.

I also had the privilege to meet a few fellow CF mommas and CF patients.  I spoke to one gentleman who is 42 with CF and a woman who is 37 with CF and just had a double lung transplant.  I, of course, had to pick thier brains.  They both agreed that the best means of therapy is manual CPT and exercise!  The gentleman also suggested cutting out milk that that really helped him a lot. However, at this point it doesnt seem to be affecting Ethan and its a major source of calories for him.  They also told me to let him be a kid and let him run around outside and play in the dirt.  As a parent of a CF child its so easy to want to put them in a bubble to protect them, but thats not the life a child should have.

At the wine opener we had amazing food and samplings of great wine.  I even had a rhubarb wine which was very good!  Thank you to our friends who support us and our cause

MIA

Well it didnt take long for me to get so busy with working and being a mommy that i forgot all about blogging! :)  Days are CRAZY around here... here is  my daily schedule

545 I wake up (after being up twice throughout the night with Liam) and shower.
600 i wake up ethan and take him directly to the vest where he gets shaken right away... while he is doing his treatment i frantically try to get ready and nurse Liam.
645 walk out the door
7 arrive at grandmas where E gets breakfast
730 arrive at work where i stay till 4...
420 pick up kids come home..
500 start breathing treatment.. while fixing dinner
545 start dinner
630 dinner
700 bath time
730-pedisure before bed
We squeeze in play time
800 bed time!
By the end of this i am exhausted!!!!  i try and catch my shows and hit the hay early... all to start it over again.  It may seem hectic and it is... but i love being on a schedule.. I am so thankful for everyday and my amazing boys.. All three of them :)

Things are going well for all of us!  I am back to work at full time.  This weekend we are heading down to Indy to the CFF wine opener.  This is a fav event of ours.  We cannot wait to spend time with some of our closest friends!