Wife and A Life at 30 (+)!: I ain't afraid of no Ghost!

October 31, 2015: Ahh, Halloween! Our favorite time. I am thankful that I have a

As good as a family photo is going to get.

husband who loves to participate as much as I do. It was his idea, long ago, to dress the kiddos as ghosts this year for Halloween. His idea was to throw sheets over them. I am a bit more creative than that :) So Ghosts it was. We were going to be skeletons, or Zombie's, well me.. I was going to be the Zombie/"Mombie" but then one of us had the idea (I think me, or maybe it was Andy that mentioned it and I really wanted to carry it out). Had we more time (that is always our excuse and will be for many years) we would have made our own costumes and the dogs would of been included.

One of my Favorite little Ghosts

With the help of Andy's aunt Connie (she is quite the crafty one and with out her I wouldn't of had home made costumes) I was able to pull together 3 cute little ghost outfits. We really didn't have much planned for Halloween and we really weren't sure if we wanted to go out. We chose to do what we usually do, we went to our friends Jesse and Anita's house and hung out there. I love the memory of walking up to their house with the 3 kiddos it tote, our ghost packs on our backs, and Andy playing the Ghostbuster's song on his phone. Best ever.

A bit blurry but that was the night. Try capturing these two. Andy's homemade
"ghost finders" are the best.

Epic Mom fail of the night. As we arrived at their house and unloading the kids and all that comes with them, I asked Andy "did you grab Zayne's costume?" Nope, he didn't and neither did I. I felt awful. Instant tears. Thank goodness he had his "Boo" hat on and his white shirt. No one even knew, but this poor Mom. We put it on once we got home for some pictures but it was bedtime melt down so I don't have the greatest pics.

It was a great night. The kiddos did awesome. It is always fun to go to Jesse and Anita's neighborhood as it is busy with lots of Kiddos and it is fun to see Stella handing out chips to everyone and her excitement doing that.

I can't wait until next year. Already planning.

What else is new? Zoe and Zayne turned 15 months on November 2nd. 15 amazing months with these two.
Zoe had 8 teeth now, I think she has got one more since the last post or since she was a year-ish. She is full of personality. Think she is so funny. Her new think is squinting her eyes and wrinkling her nose. She is an amazing eater. She eats everything we put in front of her and she is a very healthy eater (so thankful..Andy and I are working on going all organic and gluten free) she loves her fruits and veggies. Zoe is a walker, she is cruising all over the place. She does not say any words yet (maybe "mama" a bit and "dada" at times) but she loves to make noise and she is passionate about what she has to say. She loves bath time. Still does not like to smile for the camera. Loves to play by herself, but also loves to play with Zayne when they are not fighting over tupperware. She loves to sit and put things into coffee mugs and tupperware. She is a little Mama, she will bring Ziah pacifiers and try to feed her, and tuck her in. The other day Ziah was crying and I went over to give her a pacifier only to find there are 3 lined up at her feet. It melts my heart to see what a Mama she is and how it just comes as natural instinct. She really loves her sister, and when she cries she always shows concern, like she has to go over and find out what is wrong or if she can do anything help and make sure she is okay.

Zayne...oh, Mr, Zayners. He has 12 teeth. He is into everything, I mean everything. We have to completely "Zayne proof" the house. Duck tape, that is our friend right now. Duck tape the stove drawer shut, duck tape the floor board down, tape all the vents down, etc. He loves to climb. The other day Andy was changing light bulbs in their room. He walked out for a few seconds and came back to find Zayne 3 steps up the latter. He is getting to be such a big boy. He just had his weigh in this week. He weighed 18# 10oz. He has lost some weight since his big weight gain. But, he is long. He is taller than Zoe, so we are going to give some credit there. In a way it is good for us to see that it is hard work, something that we need to work at, and pay attention to in order to get Zayne to gain weight. He is taking in 1500+ calories a day. Zayne is doing so good overall, he is doing great respiratory wise, doing great with oxygen, he is starting to eat, he got over his last small cold without any complications or set backs. So it is good for us to see areas that are really affected by his lung disease. I am not good at finding the words. But, all we have seen with Zayne is the good and sometimes that good lets us slack because we are like "It's Zayne, he is a fighter, he's got this (and he does, we do)." But, it's a good little reminder to see that, hey he is doing great but there are still areas that he needs help in and that are affected by his lungs. So, what else.. Zayne also loves baths. He continues to love his music. He loves therapy with Schad (although we might fire him for teaching Zayne to climb everything, 5 min ago he climb into Ziah's rocker with her), and is not afraid to fight with him if he has too, although Schad will always win and Zayne does not like this. He is working hard on eating. He continues to attempt pouches of food every night. Some nights are great and other nights he has a different idea. He likes gold fish, bunnies, and cherrios. He gets a little bit of what we have for dinner every night. Although he is doing great it continues to be very important (if not even more important now) that people continue to listen and follow our wishes with Zayne and eating. Us and his therapist (and Zoe) are the only ones allowed to feed him. He continues to be high risk for aspiration as he is still learning to swallow. And it takes one negative experience for Zayne to have a set back. I like to say we have worked hard, but at the same time when I think about it we really haven't (well we have...trust me it's been a long road) but we have let him drive the ship and I am so thankful we have done it this way. It's Zayne's time. Zayne loves to fight with Zoe and steal whatever it is she is playing with. He recently got his leg braces that will help straighten his feet, his hips, and make him stand up straight, and help with walking. He has had them a little more than a week. Since getting them he has already started to take steps on his own. He will be walking shortly. So proud. He is the most determined little one you will ever meet, I am sure of it. He is the definition of strength, fight, motivation, and determination. Keep going buddy.

I have to share this cute little story. The other day I was feeding Zayne a pouch. I have always done sign language with the 2. I teach them the basics... more, please, thank you, etc. Well when feeding Zayne the other day, I signed "more" to him and asked if he wanted more and he signed more back to me. I was so happy, ecstatic. I had tears in my eyes. Andy thinks i am a bit crazy for doing this. But, I have read and have many friends that do the same. It is said that they will sign before they talk and will understand signing long before talking. So, today I am on the phone with Andy's aunt Connie and I tell her that Zayne can sign "more." He also did it today and really meant what he was signing. I told her, "he really knows what it means." then I proceeded to say (as I am holding Zoe) "Zoe likes to copy him, although I don't think she really knows what it means. Just as I said it Zoe looks at me like "really Mom" and signs "More" to me. My heart just melted. Again hard work paid off. Such a proud Mommie moment.

Ziah is great. She is such a little sweetheart. She is starting to smile and show some personality. She is getting bigger everyday. I cherish these moments with her being little.

Life is great. Things have been going great. We have gotten into such a good routine. It has been the flip of a switch and the two are going to bed at 8-8:30. I am so thankful I never fought bed times with them. I have read that the fight is not worth it, it was just like that and one night they were going to bed at 8. Zayne continues to be the Big Boy sleeping in his Big room by himself, sometimes with his roomie Ziah. Ziah is also pretty good with sleeping. Maybe getting up once a night. It is so nice to be getting into a good routine. Everyone always says "I don't know how you do it?" "do you have help?" Help is nice (once in awhile) but really it's easiest when it's just us because we are able to stick with our routine and what is "normal" for us. I also have to throw a big shout out to our friends who have been respectful and cautious about coming over for a visit. I love receiving texts or phone calls asking about stopping by/not stopping by because their kiddos have been sick. We are approaching RSV season, we are hopeful that Zayne will be approved for the Synergis vaccine. But regardless of the vaccine, as much as we love visitors or would love to get out of the house, please be honest with us if you are sick, please respect us and protect Zayne and let us know if you are sick or have been sick or if the kiddos have. Regardless of how well Zayne is doing he remains HIGH risk for RSV season and the cold/flu season. It's as simple as that!!

"Let your Smile change the World, But don't let the World Change you Smile."

S: SEE
M: Miracles
I: In
L: LIFE
E: Everyday