NYC!!!!! Buddy Walk!

 We had a blast in NYC! First up on our trip agenda was Times Square for the NDSS Video.

Seeing my babies on the big screen was amazing. If you'd like to check out the entire video presentation, here's the link:  2014 NDSS Buddy Walk Times Square Video We are around 15:36, but there are so many other amazing photos, so if you have time, watch and smile! After Times Square, we headed over to Central Park to get our Buddy Walk on! 

 

 We heard Chris Burke from Life Goes On speak. We met people from across the country. And coolest of all, we saw people with Down syndrome who work for the NDSS in action doing their jobs. I saw this amazing photographer (pictured above), capturing shots from every angle, and I smiled. Because she and I were really  more alike than different. A subtle message that hit my heart :) 

 We Buddy Walked, we danced and we enjoyed every part of our experience!

 

I was so lucky to have Nana and Aunt Nic by my side for all the fun! Thanks for joining us!

After the walk, we set off on our own adventure...walking from about 108th Street all the way to 33rd. Central Park is beautiful...at some points in time, it was hard to believe we were still in the city!

We made sure to fit in time to monkey around :)

Our friends Sarah, John & baby Meredith met us in Times Square to be part of the fun. 

 

We hit up FAO Schwarz and Magnolia. We ate pizza. We walked and walked and walked. We enjoyed the randomness!

 

We had an amazing day! Thank you NDSS and Buddy Walk for bringing us another amazing experience!

If you're interested in being part of our CHOP Buddy Walk team, there's still time to join or donate. Porter's Peeps are so incredibly thankful for your support!

She's Got Game

Penny's playing soccer this fall.

Everything the other mom's told me about 4 year old soccer is true. Kids pick grass and flowers, they enjoy cheering for their team more than anything. Their attention span doesn't match the length of the game. They get distracted by things on the sidelines. The goal becomes a jungle gym. Watching from the sidelines, I'm getting my much needed dose of the giggles. 

 

She's slowly, but surely, learning more about the rules of the game. She's fast. She's agile. But she's a little fearful. After falling a few times when kicking over the ball (she gets moves like that from her mama), she's hesitant. She sometimes wants to hang back and watch instead of being in the middle of the chaos. But boy, is she a supportive teammate!  

She's got the goal celebration moves down! 

She's not going to be the best at every sport. As long as she tries, I'll be happy. I'm having trouble finding the right balance between pushing her to succeed and letting her learn to play and have fun. Her coaches are incredibly patient. I'm trying so hard to take their lead. 

Right now, I'm loving the way she supports her friends. The way she's there to pick them up if they fall down. The way she's making new friends, even friends from other teams (seriously- she sat down in the grass with the girl she was supposed to be guarding and they talked while the game went on around them). The way she's free to be herself. 

The truth is, we're both learning in 4 year old soccer. We both have a lot to learn!  

Try hard my little one...and fly free! Be the best you that you can be!

In the News :)

Tomorrow, we're headed to NYC for the NDSS Video Presentation in Times Square. These kids will be up in lights!

We're incredibly thankful that the Times Herald & NBC10 covered our story, helping to promote CHOP Buddy Walk in the process!

Times Herald Article

NBC10 Article

We're so incredibly excited for all the Buddy Walks we'll take part in over the next three weeks. Thanks for your support! 

We're especially thankful for the support of Kona Ice King of Prussia, Chick-Fil-A Audubon and Metropolitan Veterinary Associates who are helping us with fundraising. And to all our family and friends who've come to our recent fundraising events and who've donated to Porter's Peeps!

 

 Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

T & A

Porter had his tonsils & adenoids removed and new ear tubes placed on Friday morning. Pre-op, he was happy and full of giggles.

He loved the long comfy pants, which prompted some peek-a-boo toes games. He and daddy played "super baby." Daddy was clearly the best at this game, because each time mommy tried to play, Porter said "daddy again."

Post op was rough. It took a few doses of morphine to control the pain and he was quite upset. As expected, he needed some oxygen. The anesthesiologist explained everything so well and had amazing bedside manner! For kids like Porter, with low tone and asthma, the road to pain management and happy, healthy breathing can be windy. Pain meds can depress the respiratory system. And crying creates mucous that can't be deep suctioned because of the location of the tonsils & adenoids. Taking all of this into consideration, we weren't too surprised that Porter needed some oxygen in recovery. 

We spent quite awhile in Recovery, as they tried to decide if Porter could head to a regular floor, or if he would have to go to the PICU based on his oxygen needs. After four hours in recovery, they decided to send him to the PICU. Throughout the night, they were able to turn his oxygen down and in the morning, he came off oxygen. 

When the oxygen came off, the words started coming out- you can tell the new tubes are making a difference in his hearing already. Miss Lori would be proud- we had a few two word combinations courtesy of baby and Elmo (baby jump and baby slide are by far his favorite requests) and lots of two words with the speech apps and flashcards. He took a good nap, without oxygen and didn't have a single desaturation episode. Initally, they were going to transfer him from the PICU to a regular floor to keep him for observation, to make sure he was drinking and eating since he had been on IV fluids, but he drank two juices, ate an ice cream and crackers, so they let us go home around 6pm! 

We are so thankful for all your prayers. And many thanks to the amazing team at CHOP! 

Please do us a favor and keep all those amazing PICU kids, families and nurses in your prayers. No kid should have to endure what many of them are going through. But we know they're going through it with the best. We saw nurses treating patients with respect and dignity. We saw nurses and staff from other floors coming to visit kids they knew that had no family with them. And, we saw a boy celebrate his birthday in the PICU. A midst all the sadness, there are amazing people going out of their way to make it better. We are incredibly luck and humbled.

Recovery- GAME ON! He asked for blueberries as soon as we got home :) 

After a night of snuggles with mommy in the chair to keep him elevated, he woke up this morning full of energy! Although he's super excited to play, we're trying to our hardest to keep him out of trouble. 

He has little interest in the jello, pudding and ice cream that I stocked up on, but sister is reaping the benefits of those. Porter, in true Porter fashion, wants to eat real food. So we're going slowly and following his lead. 

Colorado Day 3- The Wedding Day!!!

We started Day #3 with breakfast at the lake. Lake Estes was our favorite part of Estes Park! We had breakfast at a restaurant that overlooked the lake. After breakfast, we took a ride around the lake on a family bike. It was so much fun!

  

 After our adventures on the lake, Penny & I headed up to visit Aunt Terra while she prepped for the big event. Isn't she gorgeous? 

 Penny loved the salon!

 

 We got to see Aunt Terra put on her gorgeous veil and had some fun checking out the insides of Della Terra.

 

 Grammy and Terra were ready!

 After some fun with the girls, Penny snuck in a visit with Almost-Uncle Bill.

 

We took a quick peek at the preparations and headed back to our cabin to get ready. 

 

 The daddies were hard at work getting the little boys ready. Even still, we managed to run a little late for family photos. Penny was in her glory when the golf cart came to pick her up :) 

 

 The mountains made the perfect backdrop for some awesome family photos!

 

 And these two put on their best smiles and generally cooperated. 

 And this one- we could eat up his cuteness...love you Andrew!

 After photos, the boys got into all sorts of trouble int he reception area before we headed down to the ceremony...tables to crawl under were seen as one giant playground. Porter's knees were black! But his smile was huge :)

 

 The weather cooperated and the ceremony was breathtaking!

The minister was hilarious and the ceremony was totally Terra & Bill...perfect!  

 We went straight to the reception. Porter & Penny were ready to dance! After dinner, the little boys said goodnight and I took them back to Kelsi, who put them to bed like a pro. 

 

The cake was cut, the dances were danced and the party started! 

 Terra's skirt twirled so beautifully!

 This girl danced until she couldn't dance anymore.

 

 After the DJ played "Call Me Maybe?" and "Happy," she quietly asked if she could go to bed. Many thanks to Kelsi for watching the little ones so we could have fun!

 

 We partied on and had a blast!!!!

 And just like that, the night was over. 

Congrats Terra & Bill! After all three Thompson weddings, I think it's safe to say, this family knows how to have fun! Just like ours and Megan & Chris' weddings, this was one for our list of Best Weddings Ever! We had so much fun. Most of all, we just love seeing Terra and Bill so happy! Congrats guys!