Pirate of the Month

Last Thursday, Rylan was honored by the school board for being the Pirate of the Month. Each school in the Cooper district picks one boy and one girl for the award. We are very proud of Rylan and always have know that he was a good student and a great kid. But I guess I am a little biased. But we were so excited that others were noticing what a fine young man he is turning into.

Rylan with his 1st grade teacher, Ms. Martin. Rylan was very nervous about having to make a speech, but we reassured him that he didn't have to and he got a little more excited.

We are so proud of our little family!
Pops and Nana even came along to watch Rylan accept his award.
Rylan, I am so proud to call you my son and I love watching you grow daily! I love you!
Until next time...

A Character From Dr. Seuss

So maybe someday I'll give in and cut it off! But, the other night I got such a kick out of styling Talon's hair that I had to snap a few pictures. I think he looks like a character from a Dr. Seuss book. What do you think?

Until next time...

First Transport Solo

We have been incredibly busy at work! Having 40 babies and only 12 nurses makes for some very busy not so much fun days at work! And this is supposed to be our "slow" time! What is it going to be like when it gets busy? Crazy!

This weekend was my first weekend of being on transport call! I finished my orientation, so it was time to fly solo. Literally! We normally only have call when we are at work. We leave and someone picks up our babies until we get back. Well, I got through the weekend without being called out anywhere. Then I got called by the night charge nurse Sunday night asking if I could take transport call Monday, so their assignments wouldn't be so bad if we had to leave and get a transport. Since it was President's Day, and Ky gets to enjoy all of the cheesy bank holidays off, I told her I could. I went to bed Sunday night really excited about getting to sleep in for once! Ky was going to take Rylan to school so I could sleep.

Well, the moment Ky walked out the door, my phone rang and it was dispatch telling me we were getting a baby from Clovis. I jumped up and started getting ready! Somehow, I was dispatched at 8:08 and was out the door by 8:20! Fully make-uped and everything! Crazy what adrenaline can do for you! My biggest fear was going by helicopter. We don't get to train on the helicopter, because there is not enough room to carry an extra passenger with our gigantic isolette we have for the baby. When Ky walked back into the house, he knew I had been called out. I immediately asked him if it was foggy outside, because then I knew we wouldn't travel by helicopter if it was. He said that it was completely clear and the sun was shining. Bummer! I knew what that meant! I would be enjoying my first helicopter ride!

I got to the hospital and got all my supplies around, got into a flight suit which was huge on me! The crotch was down to my knees and I had to roll up the sleeves! I looked pretty silly. We walked to the ER and the helicopter was waiting for us. We put on our helmets and had to load the isolette hot, which means while the helicopter is running! I went with a great experienced RT, respiratory therapist, and the AeroCare pilot and flight nurse were so nice! I survived and it was a great experience!

I was very surprised how loud the helicopter is! All the time!! You have to talk through a microphone on your helmet just to hear each other! I was also surprised how low to the ground we flew! All I had to compare it to was regular commercial flights and going on a transport by fixed wing which is a little airplane we fly in.

I ended up surviving and got the baby back to UMC safe and sound! It was a great experience and makes me so glad I decided to join the transport team!

Here is a link to a video of the AeroCare helicopter and fixed wing. It is kind of long, but I thought you might enjoy watching part of it and seeing how we travel on a transport when we aren't in an ambulance.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UTOSVhW0iI

Snow!!!

We have been getting a lot of snow lately. It has been so much fun watching the boys play. This was Talon's first time out in it and he had a blast. We had to make some homemade snow shoes with Wal-Mart sacks. Rylan had so much fun and even chunked a huge snowball at Talon, just thinking it would be fun. He heard very quickly from me how inappropriate it was and that Talon needed to be a little older to understand the game. He quickly apologized and went about playing. Talon had a hard time walking, but had fun none the less. Here are a few pictures I got from the beautiful snow!

A couple of pictures when the snow and ice first began to fall.

Until next time...

Getting Creative

Talon has always loved laundry baskets. He likes to push them, pull them, climb in them, climb on them, load them, unload them, and anything else he can think of. When I am doing laundry, here is what Talon does... Since the weather has been so nasty lately, the boys have been getting creative with their fun! On this night, Rylan even got in on the laundry basket action...

Here is an action shot of Talon climbing in and jumping in the basket...

He cracks me up! I love his hair flying! We have yet to get his hair cut. We are waiting. I just can't cut off his cute little curls in the back and I know when we do, he will really look like a big boy! So therefore, I will wait as long as I can. Despite what my Mom says! Until next time...

Games

Our house is getting to be so much fun. More fun than it used to be! Rylan is really starting to understand how to play more complex games and loves to play. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to play games, so I guess he gets his love for games from me. Playing with Nana and Pops with Talon's help.

An action shot of Rylan playing 31 with us and Nana and Pops.Talon is now starting to understand what a camera is. Everytime I pick up my camera, he gets the cheeseist grin on his face and it just cracks me up! It is getting really hard to capture a moment because he stops and just grins from ear to ear with his big dimples! Melts my heart!

Until next time...