JAKOB IS OUT OF SURGERY

READY TO GO HOME!!! the procedure went well, but he was so sad to go back into surgery. he had a really hard time. he was very happy to get in the car and go home! now for the next few days he has to wear a little pager that monitors his acid levels and i have to log all the times that he eats, coughs and throws up. fun stuff.

RESTING AFTER SURGERY

DONE FOR NOW...

JAKOB READY FOR SURGERY

jakob is going under...AGAIN

well- tomorrow (thursday) jakob is going in for yet another surgery. this time it is concerning his acid reflux. jakob has a lot of problems with vomiting under stress or in extreme excitement, sooooo..... the GI doctor is going to place a small chip at the top of his esophagus to measure the acid levels and the damage that is being done to his little body. this will make his 2nd surgery in the past month so i am a little nervous, but he is always so brave. he is very good at getting as much sympathy as possible after all is said and done. wish us luck and say a little prayer.

PICTURES OF OUR VISIT TO THE YELLOW RIVER GAME RANCH

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND AT THE CABIN

our thanksgiving was so much fun. we spent time up at rob and lorna's cabin in the blue ridge mountains. we got to visit with melanie and tyson (once tyson got there) and all the kids had a blast. my kids LOVE spending time with there cousins which doesn't happen often. finally we ate an amazing thanksgiving meal with two huge turkey (lots of left overs), rolls, potatoes, brussel sprouts and my yummy sweet potatoe souffle. YUM!!! it was a very fun weekend. once we were home, rob and i took the kids to the yellow river game ranch where all the animals are out of there cages and just roaming around the property. the kids got to pet and feed the animals. they had so much fun and ollie was in heaven just being outside!!! it was great family time and it is always so rewarding as a parent to see your children having so much fun!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

well another year has gone by and jakob is another year older. he waits for this every single year and pretty much counts down the days..... he gets so excited. he knows that mom and dad always come to school with cupcakes and party hats, he LOVES his birthday!!! he got the spider-man III movie and the new guitar hero with the karaoke, drums and guitar, and a new suit for church. Birthday time is always special, but for jakob it is his favorite time of year!!

LIFE IN THE BOOT HOUSE

it has been a crazy two weeks, we are preparing for thanksgiving and Jakob had his IEP (his individualized education plan) and now we are planning on moving him to a new school and steering away from sign language. because the school that he will go to is so close to us, we are going to be moving nico and eventually annelies there as well. this will be so great for the kids. jakob's cochlear implant has been SO successful that we are going to start dropping sign and focusing on speech. super exciting. he has come a long way!!! those of you who haven't seen him in a while would be amazed. Nico is so excited for the school change, he has a very strict 2nd grade teacher this year. they go outside maybe once a week and they do A LOT of testing and paper work.... BORING!! jakob's birthday is on monday and he is soooo excited. he is counting down the days and sings himself the happy birthday song everyday. he has put his spider-man cake order in and wants hamburgers and french fries for dinner. poor little guy is suffering right now with an abscessed tooth. his jaw is really swollen and strange looking!! he is not letting that interfere with his birthday excitement. Ollie is enjoying all the excitement in the air. he is so cute, he found a pencil the other day and decided to join nico in homework time. he is of course sporting knuckleheads from head to toe!

potty training frustrations!!

It has now been a good 2 months since we have introduced potty training to sofia. we have done the potty dance, we have done treats, we have tried reasoning with her, we have tried EVERYTHING!!!! i am willing to try whatever anyone else might have up there sleeves. i have never had a child this stubborn before. HELP!!!

The New Baby

My sister and her husband, Scott just had their first baby on November 2nd. He was a whopping 8 lbs 15 oz!!!! HUGE. He is so cute and the kids are so excited to have a cousin nearby. His name is Beckham Scott Parker and so far he is a very sweet little baby. Marissa is getting too much sleep (in my opinion) and Scott is way too helpful!! J/K. they are all doing very good

OUR NEW CAMPFIRE

We are in the process of finishing and upgrading our yard. first we took out all the bushes and are now putting in an irrigation system. (now that we have a HUGE drought in GA, we can't do much with the sprinkler system and we can't put any plants in.) Rob spent a lot of time building a new dog kennel and it is finally complete!!! Next we are planning on putting in a nice pavillion with outdoor seating and a great grill and kitchen area. next to that will be the basketball court!!! it will be an amazing backyard when it is all done, but in the meantime, rob built a pretty amazing fire pit in the back of the yard by the creek. it is huge and we got to enjoy it friday night for a fun family evening. rob told a funny ghost story and we roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. we finished the night with a really yummy peach cobler made under hot coals in the dutch oven. sooooo good. nights like this are priceless. once we were done with our fun outside family time, rob and the boys stayed up playing guitar hero III and me and the girls crashed in my bed watching the wizard of oz.