Carson Joshua Peacher

Amber and Brian had their 3rd baby boy today!

Carson Joshua Peacher was born at 11:16 am this morning, weighing in at a nice healthy 7 pounds 15 ounces and measuring 18.5 inches long!

Carson is a much needed blessing to a family struggling with grief over baby Mason.

Welcome baby Carson!

Pictures to come as soon as I get some.

"Not My Child!" Monday.

Trying somehing new this week with MckMama. Being brutally honest about what our children didn't do and livng to tell about it.

I'm ready to end my hiatis from blogging with a fun "Not My Child!" post about what my kids didn't do. Unfortunately, if my child didn't do something, it probably means that his/her mom may or may not have shared some of the responsibility of it. So this post may also be a "Not Me!" post entertwined with the other. Let me show you what I mean...

This week it was not my children who had a water fight in the house. Even if they had it would not have consisted of mainly toilet water that they used to spread their joy. That might just disgust me! Not my children!

Their non-existent water fight did not also include soaking the bathroom rugs, the decorative shower curtain, wash cloths, some kitchen towels and dish rags, and a toilet brush. Oh no! That was not my children!

During their toilet water battle (puking in my mouth a bit, you?), they did not leave the confines of the bathroom and drench the carpets in the hallway, their bedroom, the living room and stairs. And the certainly wouldn't have had time to waterlog the couch or the lower bunk bed. Nope! Certainly NOT my children!

As for me, I was NOT blissfully unaware of their shenaningans, because I would have been watching them very closely and NOT ignorantly playing a video game on my computer, downstairs. I would never leave a 2 year old and a 4 year old unattended long enough to wreak such havoc! I did not hear any amount of screams, running and door slamming while I was playing my game, and I certainly wouldn't have tried to ignore it. No sir, not me!

Upon finally coming out of my deep denial that anything bad might be happening upstairs, I so did NOT get instantly and furiously angry when I surveyed the damage. I was not so angry that I deamed it best to lock my children in their room, and lock myself in another room and call my husband home from work for diaster relief. Nope, I am a calm, easy going, self-controlled mom that would laugh this off. That was not me!

See now wasn't that fun? What was it your child didn't do this week? Feel free to leave me a comment if you post so I can visit your blog or leave your own "Not My Child!" in the comments and be sure to check out MckMama's blog to see what other people's children didn't do this week!

Time Flies.

It's only mid-summer, but my boys will start school this week and Letha will start next week. Unbelievable, isn't it? Where did the summer go?

Well, this post isn't really about the passage of time or the summer. :)

This post is a cute story about Kevin! In preparation for the new school year we went clothes shopping yesterday. At first I was helping Letha look for pants and jeans. (side note: my kids are skinny. Things that fit in the waist are rarely long enough in the leg, even if we buy slims. So finding things that fit both is a challenge that takes time!) I sent the big boys across the aisle to begin their search. After seeing Letha try on clothes a few times, Kevin came to me and asked, "Mommie, can I change clothes?" Not now Kevin. I helped Letha a while longer until she was on the right track. Then I headed across the aisle myself to assist the big boys.

"Mommie, can I change clothes?" Not right now, I have to help Tim and Tadd.

After sending Tim and Tadd into the dressing rooms with 4 sizes in each of 4 styles of jeans, and making sure they were all off the sale racks, we were closer to making some decisions.

"Mommie, is it my turn to change clothes?" Be patient Kevin.

Ok, Kevin it's your turn. We headed over to the toddler boys section to check sale racks there. Found some cute (if there is such a thing) boy clothes. More slims. And some cute "Rock n' Roll" t-shirts. Kevin was ecstatic! He's never tried on clothes in the store. Off the to dressing room we went. "Mom, do I take off my underwear?" Um, no! He tried on the first outfit and ran, yes RAN out of the dressing room calling everyone's name that was with us to show off that he got to change clothes!

LEEEETHA! TAADD! TIIIIM! PEEEENNNNNY! ROBBBBBYYYYNNNN! BRIIIITTTTTANY! IZZZZAAAAAAK! LOOK AT ME!

Hahaha! I love this cutie! He is such a ham. And make no mistake, the second outfit he tried on was treated with the same enthusiasm!

After all that. I have a preliminary product rave. Sears, Kid Advantage program. When you sign up for this program, any children's clothes that you purchase (regular or sale price) if your children wear them out before out-growing them, they will replace them, free. All children's clothes and shoes. I don't know about you, but my boys can put holes in the knees of jeans in about a month without even trying! I'll let you know how it goes if/when I have to replace something.

Whooda Thunk?

We moved Izaak in with Kevin not quite 2 weeks ago. The transition went remarkably well, with the exception of the first night. Boy, was that first night rough! Both Todd and I have noticed an unexpected benefit. Kevin and Izaak actually seem to be getting closer, and developing a relationship.

Every morning when Izaak wakes up (and he usually wakes up first), he climbs the ladder, up, up, up into big brother's bed. They snuggle and play together on the top bunk, almost quietly, for about half an hour before Kevin calls me to let him out to go to the bathroom. I hear them giggling and talking from my room below, and it always brings a smile to my "I-hate-mornings" face!

While there is still a remnant of sibling rivalry (you know, biting, hitting, taking
toys, screaming and tattling) it does seem to be less than it was before the big change. It's not something you can really measure, but it's noticibly more peaceful during the course of the day, and they seem to actually play together a bit more. I thougth I was imagining things until Todd voiced the very same thoughts I was having.

There is a downside though. They are learning to get into trouble together. :)

If only I had known just how much rooming together would help them get along, I'd have made this move a long time ago!

Whooda thunk?

Wordless Wednesday - Dance, Baby, Dance!

Race Day!

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny summer day in Colorado. The perfect day to go for a race. The perfect day to raise money for a good cause. A great day to see some of the families that String of Pearls has helped locally.

We gathered with our family and put our "Team Mason" tags on. I had ironed on patches on my family's shirt sleeves. Before the race started baby Larson's dad gave a testimonial of the wonderful care they had received when friends Josh and Laura Huene (founder of String of Pearls) walked beside them as they went through the loss of Larson. So similar to Mason's story. It was such a beautiful time to experience a gathering of hearts who had walked similar paths. It was like a big family reunion!

The course was on a trail through open space along the Cherry Creek canal. It started in the park, went 1.55 mi. north along the trail where a cone marked the half-way point and we turned around and headed back to the finish line where we started.

Tadd wanted to to run the race, though the rest of us had planned to walk. He took off as the mayor of Parker said, "GO!" and we lost sight of him shortly after. Tim took off at a sprint with his cousin. We saw him many times during our walk. Letha walked with us and we (read: Todd) pulled the little boys in the wagon. Along about the one mile mark we saw Tadd on his way back to the finish, still running! Just after the 1 mile marker Kevin and Letha decided to run too.
We caught up to them when they stopped to rest after the 2 mile marker. Yep, my 4 year old and my precious heart patient (former asthmatic) ran a whole mile! Even Izaak got out a bit and ran!


Tadd had a finish time of 32:46! Tim and his cousin finished in 56:06. And the rest of dragged in a little over an hour. We don't know our exact time because the Children's(7-12) Race had started before we got back, and the clock had been reset. Kevin participated in the Chidren's(2-6) Race.


It was such a great time. We were so glad to have the opportunity to raise awareness and money for String of Pearls to continue helping families nation-wide through the heartbreaking times of prenatal and infant loss. I'm going to leave the button up top for a while longer. I hope that you will feel free to donate to help other families like ours.

Amber and Brian (Mason's parents) getting ready to race.

Our dear String of Pearls nurse, Becky. (I heart Becky!)

Little boys in the wagon.

One pooped heart patient!

¡ʎɐp uʍopǝpısdn ʎɯ

¡ʎɐpsǝnʇ ʇxǝu noʎ ɥʇıʍ ʇı ǝɹɐɥs oʇ ǝdoɥ ı ˙ǝlʞɔɐʇ ʎɯ uo ʞɹoʍ oʇ ɟɟo ɯ,ı ˙sƃuılqɯɐɹ uʍop ǝpısdn ʎɯ ƃuıpɐǝɹ ɹoɟ sʞuɐɥʇ

¿sǝpɐɔǝp ɹoɟ pɐǝp uǝǝq sɐɥ ʇɐɥʇ ƃuıɥʇǝɯos oʇuo ƃuıploɥ ɥʇɹoʍ ʇı sı 'puɐɥ ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ uo ˙(sɹɐǝʎ ǝsoɥʇ ɟo ʎɹoɯǝɯ ʎuɐ ǝʌɐɥ ʇ,uop ı ɥƃnoɥʇ) ɹǝɥʇo ɥɔɐǝ ǝʌol ʎllɐnʇɔɐ pıp ʎǝɥʇ ǝɯıʇ ɐ uodn ǝɔuo ʇɐɥʇ ʍouʞ oʇ ƃuıʇɹoɟɯoɔ s,ʇı 'puɐɥ ǝuo ǝɥʇ uo ˙uoısıɔǝp ɥƃnoʇ ɐ s,ʇı ¿ʇɐɥʇ ɹǝʇɟɐ sɹɐǝʎ ʍǝɟ ɐ ʇsnɾ pǝʌlosıp ǝƃɐıɹɹɐɯ ɹıǝɥʇ uǝɥʍ 'oƃɐ sɹɐǝʎ 0ㄣ ɯoɯ ʎɯ oʇ ʇuǝs pɐp ʎɯ ʇɐɥʇ spɹɐɔ dǝǝʞ oʇ pǝǝu ʎllɐǝɹ ı op ¡plo sɹɐǝʎ 0ㄣ uɐɥʇ ǝɹoɯ ǝɹɐ ʇɐɥʇ ʎlıɯɐɟ puɐ spuǝıɹɟ ɯoɹɟ ǝɯ oʇuo pǝssɐd ɯoɯ ʎɯ ʇɐɥʇ sɹǝʇʇǝl puɐ spɹɐɔ ɟo xoq ɐ s,ʇı 'ǝɯ ɹoɟ ¿ɟo pıɹ ƃuıʇʇǝƃ ɹo oƃ ƃuıʇʇǝl ǝɯıʇ ʇsǝpɹɐɥ ǝɥʇ ǝʌɐɥ noʎ (s)ƃuıɥʇ ǝɥʇ sı ʇɐɥʍ ¿ɹǝʇʇnlɔ ʎɐʍɐ ƃuıʍoɹɥʇ ǝɯıʇ pɹɐɥ ɐ ǝʌɐɥ noʎ op ¿ǝɯ ǝʞıl noʎ ǝɹɐ 'os

˙ǝlʞɔɐʇ sıɥʇ op oʇ ǝsuǝs sǝʞɐɯ ʇı 'ǝsnoɥ sıɥʇ uı punoɹɐ sƃuıɥʇ ƃuıddılɟ ǝɹ,ǝʍ ǝɔuıs ʇnq 'op plnoɔ ı ʇɐɥʇ sǝlʞɔɐʇ ɹǝllɐɯs ǝɯos ǝʌɐɥ op ı ˙ʇɔǝɾoɹd uoıʇɐzıuɐƃɹo ǝƃnɥ ʇxǝu ʎɯ uo sɹnoɥ lɐɹǝʌǝs ɹoɟ pǝʞɹoʍ puɐ ʇɥƃıu ʇsɐl sǝɹnʇɔıd ǝɹoɟǝq ʞooʇ ı ˙ʎɐpsǝnʇ ʇı ǝlʞɔɐʇ s,ʞǝǝʍ ʇxǝu ǝq llıʍ ǝdoɥ ı ʇɐɥʍ uo ƃuıʞɹoʍ ɯɐ ı ʎɐpoʇ

˙ǝɹǝɥ ʇuǝɯɯoɔ oɥʍ sdǝǝd oʇ puodsǝɹ uɐɔ ı ʇɐɥʇ os 'ɯɐɹƃoɹd ʇuǝɯɯoɔ ʎɯ sɐ uo snbsıp ʇnd oʇ ƃuıoƃ ɯɐ ı 'ʇı op oʇ ʍoɥ ʇno ǝɹnƃıɟ ı uǝɥʍ ˙ǝldoǝd ɥʇıʍ ʇɔǝuuoɔ oʇ ǝʞıl ı ˙sʇuǝɯɯoɔ ǝʌol op ʎllɐǝɹ ı ¿sʇuǝɯɯoɔ ᄅ ɹo ⇂ uɐɥʇ ǝɹoɯ ʇǝƃ plnoɔ ı ǝsoddns noʎ op ¿uʍop ǝpısdn ʇsod ǝɹıʇuǝ uɐ pǝdʎʇ ı ɟı uǝddɐɥ plnoʍ ʇɐɥʍ