tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1375722135238919222024-03-19T07:48:47.731-05:00The Hess FamilyAndrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.comBlogger878125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-34207065804886482022018-05-21T07:03:00.002-05:002018-05-21T07:06:47.072-05:0011 yearstoday makes it 11 years since we held you in our arms and told you it was ok to go, you didn't have to hold on anymore, we would be ok and that we would see you again. living this life always feeling like we are missing one is hard. everything feels just a little bit incomplete. but don't worry, your siblings make life busy enough that we get through the days, weeks, months and now 11 years. we miss you more than words can describe, more than our hearts can handle but we know that in everything your one older brother (just by a few minutes, i always imagined you two arguing about that), one younger brother (even though he has to be first with everything we do...someone needs to remind him he's actually not the oldest) and your baby sister (who i know you would of loved and protected just like your twin does every day) in everything they accomplish you are with them. we love you sweet boy in heaven more than words can describe. as much as i wish i never had to say it, happy heaven day to you, cooper phillips hess. we love you to the moon and back and to infinity and beyond. <br />
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your silly brothers and sister who are so lucky to have you watching over them.</div>
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our special spot for you.</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-62611903864735336632018-04-11T01:00:00.000-05:002018-04-11T01:00:00.296-05:00your golden birthdayto my sweet, sweet carson on your "golden" birthday,<br />
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i'm not really sure how we got to eleven already. i swear it was just a few days ago you were a tiny little preschooler singing along with mickey mouse and handy manny calling leaves "leaps" and telling us "love, love" at night. now we're watching all the avengers/super hero movies and cartoons are a thing of the past. bodily functions are what's funny now (as with any other eleven year old i know) and every once in a while i think i catch an eye roll in my direction. watching you grow up and get bigger and stronger by the day is by far my favorite thing. knowing where you started and the odds stacked against you makes you all the more amazing. your dad and i had never been parents before, we didn't know what to do or how to act with something so tiny and fragile. but you taught us that good things come in teeny tiny packages and that you are not as fragile as you look. you are the strongest, bravest, smartest, funniest, most resilient kid i know who started off in a 1 lb 15 ounce body. you are our living, breathing, walking, running, climbing, swimming, miracle. i am thankful for every single second we have gotten to spend with you since you made your grand, yet very early, entrance into this world. and while we will always feel like a piece is missing we know cooper is up there watching you amaze everyone down here. happy, happy golden birthday to the one and only, carson. </div>
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and as usual, she couldn't leave his side for one second. did i mention that he is probably the best big brother anyone could ever imagine having!</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-81465095805338568922018-04-06T04:30:00.000-05:002018-04-06T04:30:25.491-05:00happy birthday, brooks!nine years ago this little guy entered our world. i remember thinking i wasn't sure how another little boy was going to fit into our little family of 3. i worried the whole time i was pregnant that i wouldn't make it all the way and that we would be on the same roller coaster we were on the first time. i was worried how carson would feel about having another little person in the house sharing his space. i was worried. and then on april 6, 2009 at 4:11 am (the date of your older brothers' birthday 4-11, still gives me chills when i remember hearing the time of birth called out) this little 7 pound beautiful baby boy joined our family and we were forever changed and immediately in love. you came in on your own terms...5 days before your older brother just to make sure you were first. no nicu time for you but you decided to through us into the world of cardiology and congenital heart defects. you for sure gave us a scare but in your sweet little eyes i could see you telling me, no worries mom. i got this. you amaze us everyday with your sweet, kind heart and your strong willed, stubborn personality. you are not an easy one to crack but once you do it's so amazing. and oh, those dimples will get you in trouble (and out of trouble) one day! you are our one and only brooks. there are no others out there like you and we are lucky to call you ours. happy birthday to the most amazing 9 year old i know! <br />
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those dimples! </div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-10936986107687097542018-03-12T09:19:00.001-05:002018-03-12T09:19:13.013-05:00merry christmas, happy new year, happy valentines and everything in betweenyikes. so it's been a minute since i have been able to sit down and type out something worth reading. not that we haven't been doing anything of importance or interest, we've just been busy living. life with 3 busy kids is no joke. i'm exhausted at the end of almost every day. it also doesn't help that i have been sick for the last 2 weeks (i finally caved and went to urgent care...bronchitis). other than that everyone else has been pretty healthy, which was pretty impressive considering the outbreak of flu we had around us. so other than trying to keep healthy we haven't been doing anything that interesting. <br />
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carson has had a few check ups lately. it amazes me how well he handles all of the appointments he has to go to. other than when it involves needles (which is quite a bit now with the arthritis but we're getting better) the most anxious he gets is when he has to have his eyes dilated at the eye doctor. i don't like the way it feels either. he recently had a ct scan and shunt series x-ray and he rocked it all. hoped up on the tables, laid down and closed his eyes like a champ. as long as he knows its "just a check up" he's good to go. and we got an excellent two thumbs up from the neurosurgeon which is such a relief. his shunt is working as it should and he has plenty of tubing to last until he's an adult. crazy! <br />
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along with all his doctors' appointments he is doing so well with his diet change. he's been gluten free for almost a year now and i think that it has helped so much. thank goodness there are more gluten free options out there now. it really isn't has hard as i thought it would be. even shelby is on board, making sure that everything he eats is gf. she won't let him touch a hamburger bun until she hears one of us say it's ok for him to have. it's so cute the way she looks after him. </div>
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and now that spring is almost here that means it's time for baseball! i love seeing my little guy out in the field. i never thought i'd be one of those baseball moms but i sure do love it! now if it would just stop raining we could actually get some baseball in. i feel like we should be building an arc here in georgia. baseball pictures were the other day but i decided we'd do our own...that's what happens when you have a mom who is also a photographer :-) </div>
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and my fav!</div>
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so that's been our life in a nutshell. nothing too fancy or exciting which i'll take. we've had our share of excitement. boring and normal works for this mom. i'll do my best to update more for those of you who check in!</div>
Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-22969301090302353322017-12-12T14:38:00.000-05:002017-12-12T14:38:10.209-05:00november in a nutshelland again another month came and went and i totally forgot to post anything. you would think with shelby starting school i would have all the glorious free time on my hands but it almost feels like i have less. my day consists of running around trying to get it all done before i have to go pick her up at school. then race home, finish up some more stuff with her glued to my side and then get the boys off the bus and she has someone new to stick to (usually carson, brooks won't let her anywhere near him unless it's to try and tick her off. which is pretty easy to do). <br />
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one exciting thing that just happened at the end of november is that carson was moved to the "inactive" arthritis column. his doctor cannot detect any inflammation in any of his joints. praise the lord! this kid has taken to his new "normal" so well. he now is gluten free. we have seen a huge difference in his joint pain and in other areas too. it wasn't easy but i have to say not the end of the world. he now actually will ask if something is gluten free or not before eating it. we do our best to keep him on the diet but sometimes you just have to indulge. but we have found there are so many options for someone who is gluten free. so for now, we will keep him on it. i've also found the use of oils has helped, too. actually, they have helped all of us. just call me a believer! so between all the oils i'm rubbing on him and his diet change and his injections he's doing much better. and looking so much older now, which makes me feel old...<br />
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tell me this doesn't look like he's heading to college</div>
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with his best buddy</div>
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halloween was a big hit this year and aunt megan outdid herself (i'm not sure how!) this year with the most amazing wonder woman costume. shelby was the hit of halloween once again.</div>
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with the best sidekicks ever</div>
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turning 39 isn't so bad with this crew, i'm not going to worry about what the next number is!</div>
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and for my birthday we went to see imagine dragons in concert. seeing they are brooks's most favorite band we decided to take him with us. it was awesome! thanks, meg for going with and getting us great seats. we are still singing the songs!</div>
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i think we have a concert fan (too bad his mom and dad are not)</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-70677921375055707392017-10-24T17:45:00.002-05:002017-10-24T17:45:40.927-05:00what in the world! it's been a month...not sure who really reads this blog that much anymore, i really keep it for my family and myself so i can look back and see what all was going on. clearly, we've been busy. between the boys' school, shelby going to school, me starting my photography business and just the regular old life i have neglected my blog. some days i think i'll just abandon it but then i just love going back to see what was going on in october of 2010. and every christmas my mom has a printed version made so i will continue to post...as long as i remember to!<br />
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so what have we been up to? shelby started school and turned 4 (insert scream here)! she loves school. and i mean she l.o.v.e.s it. she says every day when i pick her up that she wants to go back again tomorrow. she bounces her way to the car in the morning, gets out with a smile and doesn't turn back. especially on ballet day. do not get her early on ballet day. it's just so funny to see how much she loves it all compared to how much the boys hated it. carson would silently cry the whole way in the car then put on a semi brave face and watch me drive away. brooks had to be pried out of the car almost every day. he would hold on to the door frame and scream for them not to take him. who knew little miss would make things so easy? and her teacher says she is so sweet and quiet all day long. she comes home and i hear her recreating her day with her dolls all day long. she is really listening and learning, i love it!</div>
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the boys have been super busy. fall is a busy time at buford academy! we've already finished our first 9 weeks of school which doesn't seem possible. they both are doing so well and are getting so big. it doesn't seem like that long ago that they were just little bitty brothers hanging out at home. time marches on, i suppose. i know that i have mentioned before how much we love this community we live in. moving to buford has been the best change we ever made. the boys are so at home at their school, especially carson. we literally cannot go out anywhere to dinner around here without a kid coming over to say hi to carson and to tell us that they sit with him at lunch, play with him at school, read with him in the library, see him in the hallways, etc. he's a regular superstar. then as soon as they leave we ask carson if that is a buddy/friend from school. his response, "maybe" with a look on his face like, why are you asking? this was him at the homecoming pep rally last week. i was in the gym getting things set up and look over to see some kid dancing in front of all the kids. i'll give you one guess who has these sweet dance moves...</div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/239701209">IMG_3925-2</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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that's our carson...totally doing his thing. this kid loves to dance and i love that he feels like he can do it in front of his peers. i hate that i stopped recording before it ended because he got a nice round of applause. it was awesome, just like him! </div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/239701209">IMG_3925-2</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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here were a few more pictures from the parade that followed the pep rally. we really do things up here in buford!</div>
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a little football while we wait</div>
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getting our candy bags ready</div>
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with our neighbors and buddies. they thought it was cool to stand in the middle of the street. </div>
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sweet little buford wolf!</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-41425291624492375982017-09-30T08:00:00.000-05:002017-09-30T08:00:00.159-05:00and then she was 4four years ago our little family of four expanded to five. but we didn't just gain another little person. we gained a little girl who brought into our lives all things girly. hair bows and princesses. dolls and pink nail polish. squeals of excitement and dress up. but she is also her brothers' biggest fan. her mommy's best friend. daddy's little girl and one of the most independent, strong willed, determined little beasts i have ever seen. four years ago we had no idea what we were missing until we heard your first cry (and then continued to hear it for a good 5 more months). our lives would not be nearly as complete if you were not part of our family, shelby cooper. may you always be curious, energetic, silly and sweet. we love you to the moon and back to infinity and beyond. happy birthday, baby girl. <br />
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her first birthday questionnaire. she was watching me type her answers in and said, "mommy, you need to change the color to PINK, please." she is nothing short of all girl all the time.</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-642268638455324462017-09-05T08:33:00.000-05:002017-09-13T11:48:08.443-05:00the day has finally arrived<br />
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all three of these precious babies are in school! can i get an "amen!" the littlest hess walked into her first day of preschool like a champ. no tears, no whining, just a sideways glance in my direction to make sure this is what she really should be doing (as opposed to hopping back in the car with me and heading to target), then she sat her little booty down with the other kids and started playing. we have been talking about this day alllllllllll summer long. this girl is ready to start school. i am now sidekick-less for the first time in a l-o-n-g time. and it feels...quiet. i'm sure it'll take some getting used to and i will enjoy my time but for the first time in what feels like forever i drove home alone. i will be waiting for one o'clock till i can go pick up my little bit and give her the biggest hug. </div>
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here she is this morning, dressed and ready</div>
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hurry and take the picture, mommy, this thing is heavy</div>
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last one i got of her before walking in, putting her bag up and telling me "bye." where has my baby girl gone!?</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-59084890225832557402017-08-28T09:51:00.001-05:002017-08-28T09:51:15.582-05:00little bit is going to school...well, not for one more week but it's hard to believe that my little bow wearing, partner in crime will be in school. she says that she is ready and excited and that she wants me to drive away and leave her at school like the brothers do, but we shall see how it really goes come next tuesday. for now, i will just try to enjoy all the little things with her, like using her to test out new spots to take pictures in. pay no attention the the ratty, disgusting, thing she is holding. that is her ever precious "pink" who is no longer even close to pink. i'm not really that worried about leaving her at school and how she'll be when i go, but i am a tad concerned about her realizing she can't bring "pink" with her. this could be a problem. good luck sweet preschool teachers!<div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-27272597487214205852017-08-11T11:11:00.001-05:002017-08-11T11:11:25.183-05:00summer is gone...i swear i was just getting the boys of the bus on the last day of school back in may. how is it already august, and how are they already back in school. summer went by too. fast. way too fast. i'm not gonna lie. i am a summer loving mom. sure, the days can seem longer but not when you get to sleep in almost every day. my kiddos are trained well. the boys wake up and go into the playroom and play quietly till i hear shelby and have to get up with her, which usually isn't till about 9. it was glorious sleeping in. some days i'd wake up early and get my coffee but then i'd think, what the heck am i doing? go back to bed, woman! thinking back on what we did at first i thought we really didn't go a whole lot, but then looking at all the pictures and videos on my phone, we actually were pretty busy. how else did summer just fly by? here is a quick recap of all that we did, which most of it consisted of swimming in the pool and hanging out inside. i sure do miss having all my people here at home, but let's be honest...it isn't so awful with them back at school either. and the best part of it all? little miss starts preschool in a month! more on that to come, but for now our summer in a recap of iPhone pics :-)<br />
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water gun fight as soon as they got off the bus on the last day! such a fun tradition with all our bus stop buddies!</div>
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bus stop boys...our stop is all boy all the time.</div>
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we headed straight up to the lake for memorial day weekend. my favorite of the year!</div>
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boat rides! look at that little bit. she will do anything if it means she gets to stand next to her brother.</div>
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next we went and stayed at grammy and grampy's house to get ready for our super hero fun run. now that shelby isn't in a crib/pack and play we had to come up with a plan for where she would sleep. blow up mattress it is! </div>
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the first weekend in june was the fun run for CHOA. a place we sadly have to frequent but sure are glad it's so close. they loved dressing up. running in the hot/humid temps, not so much.</div>
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running to the race about wore them out. the blister, skinned knee, and sour attitude about ruined it for us, but that 15 seconds sure was fun.</div>
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next up was not really carson's favorite part of summer but something we are so grateful to be able to be a part of. he goes for 2 weeks/2 hours a day for robotics rehab at CHOA. he gets to do so many cool things that really help. and now with our new JIA diagnosis we were able to get some good therapy ideas to help out with our joints when they are hurting. we love, love, love our therapists at robotics rehab. and they love, love, love our carson. </div>
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here he is riding the bike with his e-stim on. not his favorite feeling but what a great way for his muscles to learn to be used correctly. we see so much improvement from this therapy. if only our insurance covered it...</div>
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walking in the zero gravity treadmill. and our little brother got to come help out a few times. brooks was fascinated with all the stuff carson "gets" to do. he was a great helper though and asked the therapist lots of very good questions. he's such a little care taker for his brother. it makes my heart burst with pride to see him so involved with what carson has to do.</div>
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helping shoot baskets while standing on the bosu ball. it's not as easy as it looks.</div>
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rock climbing like a pro</div>
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and using the one thing carson actually did like. the vector. he even got to fly around the room like a real super hero...as if we had any doubts that he was one.</div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/229211776">IMG_3184</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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waking our muscles up on the "milkshake" machine.</div>
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using the virtual reality arm to make our brain use lefty. it was amazing to see. he actually does know how to use that arm, we just have to wake that part up in his brain.</div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/229211729">IMG_3107</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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after our two weeks of driving back and forth we were ready to relax some. this is where we spent most of our days...and nights.</div>
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and hanging with friends.</div>
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and then the best part of our summer, our visit from our cousins all the way from illinois! we were so excited for them to get here. shelby must of asked me a thousand times for a week before they came it they were on their way. from the minute they pulled in the driveway till the sad moment they left, we had the best time. the kids were all occupied and the adults were worn out. we can't wait to do it again!</div>
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waiting patiently...</div>
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they're here! shelby wasn't sure what to say with actual girls in her driveway. we usually are full of boys.</div>
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best buds.</div>
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lots of swimming took place.</div>
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and then we headed to the lake for some 4th of july fun.</div>
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and some tubing!</div>
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his favorite part...brooks, too.</div>
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and sometime in-between the beginning of summer and our cousins visiting shelby learned how to do this.</div>
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/229214888">IMG_3543</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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now we are a swimmie free family, which is a scary thing but also really nice. she was so determined to be able to swim like all the big kids. when she puts her mind to something, forget it. she's doing it. </div>
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once 4th of july comes and goes we have to start thinking about school again :-(. we tried to squeeze in some more pool days and a few little outings and some sleeping in. </div>
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pool days!</div>
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a night out at ponce city market</div>
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brooks celebrated his 8th "happy heart day" celebrating with dessert for dinner. it was cookie cake this year. </div>
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a super fun day/night of tennis.</div>
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court side</div>
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and then it was time to get ready for school with new haircuts and a trip to the candy store.</div>
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and then the day came...3rd and 4th grade, here they come!</div>
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and little miss waiting for the bus so she can see her brothers again.</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-81418844488679218892017-07-29T07:57:00.001-05:002017-07-29T07:57:23.352-05:00happy heart day, kiddo!another year, another heart anniversary. we're on number 8 now. eight years since your doctor sat across from us the night before your surgery and told us that you were very sick but he was going to do his best to save you. eight years since we were sitting in a waiting room for 6 hours watching families come and go, anxiously awaiting our doctor to show up and tell us what your fate would be. i cannot thank God, the surgeon, the nurses and all the other people who took part in your journey, enough. every second of every day you amaze us with you beautiful heart. your little inquisitive, curious, kind, energized, tom petty loving, 1,000 questions a day, sweet, amazing heart. to look at you today you would never know just how sick you really were and for that we are beyond grateful. happy heart day to my little ALCAPA surviving baby boy...<br />
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<br />Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-19714336013428676242017-07-07T10:42:00.001-05:002017-07-07T10:42:35.179-05:00superhero fun runfor our first summer fun event we signed up for the children's healthcare superhero fun run! i use the term "fun" loosely. the only part they thought was fun was the dressing up part. we were so excited to get there and see everyone dressed up, but not so excited to walk forever to get to the fun run (our bad, we parked on the wrong side of piedmont park, which is huge), definilty not excited to run a mile in the hot humid june temps, and definilty not fun when one falls as soon as the race starts and scrapes her tiny knees. but...all said and done, we had fun, the kids looked super cute and it was all for a good cause and sponsored by our favorite children's hospital that we are so grateful for but would rather not see the inside of ever again (unless it's for our robotics therapy, which we love!). <br />
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my little superheroes. i wish i had a "post" race picture to show the true feelings of the day but oh well.</div>
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andrew and carson finishing the race. super proud of my batman. he was the only one who didn't complain or cry at some point.</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-83315208127549148592017-06-15T13:33:00.000-05:002017-06-15T13:33:55.629-05:00mr. brooks goes to d.c.at the end of may brooks and i invaded in on megan at her yearly sales meeting which was being held in d.c. this year. i have never been and thought it would be a good opportunity for brooks and i to spend some good ole' quality time together. with all of carson's new problems with the jia and all the appointments and things we have had to do i felt like brooks was feeling a little scared and left out. he is my stereotypical middle child. only brooks would get a trip alone with his mom out of carson getting arthritis. all that aside, i knew that brooks would probably appreciate all the history and significance the most. so after a few days of researching the best things to see and do in d.c. we were set. we had 3 full days to just explore. if you were to ask him what he wanted to see the most before we went it would've been to see the white house and meet president trump. what can i say, the kid has some high standards.<br />
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7:20am flight out. good thing we were excited to go, otherwise we'd both be asleep!</div>
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on day one, thursday, when we got there about 10am it was pouring down rain and about 50 degrees. not the best weather to walk around in but we managed. we stopped off at megan's hotel to drop our bags and then it was off to see whatever we could. we made it to the national mall and hit up a few of the smithsonian museums. air and space was first. it was packed. i felt like every middle school in the united states had a field trip planned here for this day. there were preteen kids everywhere. it made me really appreciate my little ones and also feel bad for all those teachers trying to get the kids to put down their phones and look at all this cool stuff, for pete's sake! anyway, brooks was pretty amazed with all they had to see. he even tried "space" ice cream and really like it. me, not so much. </div>
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waiting to get in to the air and space museum. this is pretty much how we looked all weekend. wet and in our rain jackets.</div>
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a piece of the actual moon!</div>
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everywhere we went we saw the washington monument. it became a running joke, "look kids, the washington monument!"</div>
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megan had to head back to wrap up her meetings so brooks and i headed over to the museum of natural history. our favorite thing there was the hope diamond and the butterfly house. oh, and the cafeteria in the basement, we were starving! </div>
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butterfly house. we really wanted one to land on us but were also a teeny bit afraid.</div>
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brooks and i grabbed a quick dinner by our hotel and then came back to wait for megan. brooks wanted to spot her first so he sat right by the doors waiting for her. </div>
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day two we did lots and lots of walking and exploring in the rain. first we ran through the museum of american history and hit up the presidential section. here we could see lincoln's actual hat he was wearing when he was shot, some really cool artifacts from his funeral, and tons of other things from our past presidents. stuff like that amazes me. these things were actually used by our very first presidents. how cool is that? we saw a chair that belonged to george washington. i mean...how amazing! </div>
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brooks was ready to get into the museum</div>
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statue of liberty made out of legos!</div>
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future president</div>
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lincoln's hat. i could've stayed and looked at it all day long.</div>
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our next stop was to the department of printing and engraving to see where money is made. i would say this was probably on the bottom of our list of favorite things to see. it was cool seeing the huge stacks of millions of dollars but the rest of the tour was kinda slow. from here we went to the national archives. this was really cool. we had an appointment to get in to see some of the big guns, the declaration of independence, the bill of rights, and the constitution. all the actual documents. it was just amazing to see those actual documents. i'm not sure i have ever seen anything so cool (besides lincoln's actual hat). unfortunately, no pictures were allowed in the archives. if you have never been to see these i highly recommend you go.<br />
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next stop for the day was the lincoln memorial. having never been to d.c. before i had no idea just how big this monument is. wow. talk about being in awe. brooks was so impressed. unfortunately, it was raining pretty good so everybody was jammed inside under cover so it wasn't super easy to look at everything. still, very moving to see, especially parts of his speeches engraved on the walls. <br />
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we had done so much hopping from one place to another this day that we decided to uber back (undoubtably, brooks's favorite part of our trip. calling ubers) to our hotel and relax a little then find a place for dinner by our hotel. </div>
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saturday was by far, my favorite day. we started off at ford's theater where lincoln was shot...(side note, we found out that i am not the one to be in charge of times/appointments/schedules. i almost always had our time/place wrong. fortunately, we were able to talk our way in or rescheduled for most things. it became quite the joke though to brooks). i had bought tickets to see a one act play about the night he was shot then to go across the street to the peterson house where he died the next day. the play was really neat to see and gave so many details. i'm not sure brooks was that impressed but the whole time we just found ourselves staring at the box seats where lincoln would've been sitting. it was very surreal to think that is the exact place he was shot. we did learn that the building has been restored and some things in the box were not the original but still...pretty close. </div>
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then it was across the street to where lincoln was taken after being shot. here we learned that this house has been preserved exactly, except for the actual bed he died in...that is in a museum in chicago. but the rest of the house hasn't been touched. we got to walk through pretty much by ourselves and really take our time. just amazing. </div>
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from here we walked (much to brooks's disappointment, he wanted to uber) to capital hill and sat on the steps and looked around for a bit. again, i never knew just how big all of this is. it's pretty impressive when you think about just how many of our presidents have been here before. <br />
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deep thoughts on the capital steps </div>
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the running joke of the washington monument being everywhere got pretty funny. brooks wanted to take a picture of us pointing to it, again.</div>
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after the capital we decided to uber to arlington. this was a risky move on my part. brooks has a lot of questions about dying and people who have died, and what happens when you die, and where do you go, and can you come back, and so on and so forth. but, i thought it was important for him to go and see just how many people have served our country. arlington was amazing. probably our favorite thing we did the whole trip. what a sight to see. we decided we could walk to see all the main spots. at first this seemed like a great idea, then as we kept seeing the tour busses drive by us we thought maybe we chose wrong. either way, if you ever have a chance to go i highly recommend it. our first stop was to see the eternal flame of JFK and Jackie O. it is so surreal to be standing next to where they are buried. everyone that walks up is so respectful and it is so quiet. just a really good place to sit and reflect. of course, it came with lots of questions on who JFK was and how he died. still, so cool to see. </div>
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next was my favorite. the tomb of the unknown. just amazing. i can not even put into words how you feel when you are watching the guard march back and forth. we got to see two changing of the guards and see a wreath laying ceremony. brooks was entranced the whole time. counting steps, watching the guards and their rituals. counting pauses. watching faces. he really did such a good job just taking it all in. </div>
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and then this happened. we were using the bathroom which is right next to where the guards go in between their shifts. we were waiting on megan and this guy walks out looking very much like one of the guards. brooks says to me, "hey! that looks like a guard of the tomb!" and the guy turns to him and gives him a wink and a thumbs up and says he is one. we waited for him to come back from what he was doing and he chatted with brooks for a few minutes and then took a picture with him. brooks was beyond excited. i could see it in his sweet little face. we thanked the kid for his service and went on our way with a little guy pretending to be one of the guards himself. </div>
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and then before we knew it we were lost. arlington is huge. everywhere you turn looks like the place you were just in. we were all starting to get a little tired and hungry but everywhere we went was the wrong way. finally we found someone and he pointed us in the direction we needed to go which took us past this view...</div>
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i'm not sure we could've asked for a better view of d.c. and our whole trip. we spent a few minutes just admiring it all then headed back down, caught another uber and went to grab one last dinner. </div>
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brooks doing what he loved the most, watching the uber car on our phones and telling us when they were pulling up. i'm afraid he thinks he can uber anywhere now.</div>
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this was by far one of my favorite trips i have taken. i was just amazed by all the stuff we got to see. i will definitely be going back to d.c. again. but, nothing beats coming home to all my faces that i love so much. </div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-3303221567485461752017-05-21T07:30:00.000-05:002017-05-21T07:30:15.665-05:0010 years it's now taken me several days to sit down and write this post. partly because i am in shock that it has been ten years and partly because your brothers and sister don't make it easy to just sit down and get something done. that's the beauty of it i guess, just being too busy to be sad. i would have never thought that ten years could pass so quickly. all those years ago on this day i would have told you i would never smile or be truly happy again. i remember every single moment of that day. every sound, every smell, everything. loosing a child is a pain that cannot be explained. the actual physical feeling of loss never goes away. but much to my surprise i can say that i did smile again. and i do feel truly happy. but there are times when someone asks me how many kids i have and i stumble over the answer. how many do i have here with me or how many do i have forever in my heart and soul? i have 4 beautiful children. you can't actually see one of them right now but i do everyday in my 3 who are here. just when i think i'm going to be sad he sends me a sign not to be. that sign may be his crying sister but i know it was just the distraction i needed. this morning when i was woken up by the dog (who doesn't really get up in the middle of the night anymore) i looked at the time on the wall. 4:11. your birthday. it could've been totally random, but i choose the believe it was you. you knew this day was approaching and i needed to know you're ok. and i do know it. as much as i wish you were here with us and we didn't have to have this day burned in our memories, i have to believe you are in a much better place. so, happy heaven day sweet cooper. we miss you every second of every day. <br />
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our 3 little pieces of joy here on earth</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-14831851631119859642017-05-19T13:42:00.003-05:002017-05-19T13:42:55.588-05:00jia updatelet me just tell you all this, as if you didn't already know, but our carson is a real life superhero. i should've known from the beginning that it was just in his blood. i do no know any other ten year old who could handle all the things that have been thrown his way with such ease. i'm pretty sure his superhero power is his amazing personality and ability to get over it an move on. this kid has been through it and yet even with tears in his eyes and fear in his gut he can still smile and make me feel better about all the crap we have to make him do. not once do i ever hear him utter a single complaint or a "it's not fair" when all i want to do is scream it as loud as i can. <div>
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our latest hurdle, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, has been a doozy. he went from being completely independent and even released from pt at school to literally crawling his way around the house (without so much as a single complaint, seriously, it's a real super power). thankfully we were about to get on the schedule to get steroid injections into his knees. i'm not sure carson would use the word thankful, but after seeing the immediate relief that's exactly what we were, thankful, grateful, amazed, relieved, all those feelings wrapped up into one is how we felt. watching your kid be in pain and not be able to make it go away really sucks. </div>
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so for now, we will stay on our once a week shot of an injection of meds that will suppress his immune system, and couple that will a bunch of meds to combat the side effects of that drug, along with his other daily medicine he was already on. while we wait to see which ones will work for us i have looked into several different books on autoimmune diseases and how diet change can affect/help with the inflammation. carson's celiacs blood work can back negative so as far as they are concerned it's not food related but it can't hurt to try a diet change if it would mean getting off some of the medicines he's on. never a dull moment around here, that's for sure. </div>
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getting checked in and gowned up...see that little tear that escaped. that about broke my heart.</div>
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being silly and trying to take our mind off the scary stuff</div>
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all done and on the way home. all in all he did great. definitely not a fan of being sedated but once it all wore off he was just fine. fingers and toes crossed and prayers said that we don't have to do this very often...maybe a diet change will help, maybe a supplement, or maybe the medicine will work and take over. all i know is my carson is back to his old self running and playing. which to be honest, i was worried we wouldn't see him do any of these things again. so for now we will enjoy the benefits of modern medicine. here he is running and playing for the first time since his knee pain started back in february. and no, you're not seeing an illusion. that is actually all 3 of my kids playing together. i had to take a picture for proof.</div>
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cannonball!</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-72748381239421963632017-05-01T21:37:00.001-05:002017-05-01T21:43:15.548-05:00where did april go?i always feel like this every year. april hits and we are just running around like crazy people just trying to make it through. we have birthdays, spring break, easter, baseball, tennis, end of year testing and just daily life. before i know it school is over and we are on summer vacation! i am counting the days...19 more to go! we can do it! not that our summer will be all that relaxing though. carson will be doing robotics therapy again (he is not <i>super</i> excited about it but we felt like it helped so much and now with this new kink in our chain, arthritis, we feel like it'll really help) at children's healthcare. it's a two week program and this year he is also doing OT along with PT. it's such a good program and we are so lucky to live so close by...that being said, it's not just a hop, skip and a jump away. it's going to be exhausting for all of us but so beneficial for carson, so we do it with a smile. i can't wait to see the gains he makes this year. <br />
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i went through my phone and looked at all the pics from april. wow. it has been a busy month. i'm always grateful for such a busy time from april to the end of may. it keeps my mind busy. the fact that may 21 is approaching and that it will be 10 years is never very far off my mind but thankfully, i have these three to keep me focused. </div>
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the very beginning of april we packed up the new family truckster and headed to seaside for spring break. let's just say no matter how big the car we will be able to fill up every spot available. you would've thought we were moving to the beach. here we are packed and just about ready to pull out of the driveway...that's andrew in the very back probably trying to fit my "one more thing" in the back.<br />
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with a stop off in our favorite college town on the way we were able to catch a baseball game. auburn never disappoints.<br />
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i love me some cam!</div>
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i miss this place so much<br />
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it was off the next day to the beach! sadly we didn't have the best weather but we made the most of it and had a fabulous time. a much needed vacation from all the chaos at home. can't you see how relaxed i am?! this shows just how crowded the beach was. there were people everywhere. we don't even know those people who are literally right next to us. it was crazy!</div>
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two little peas in a pod.</div>
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and this middle one. he has been quite the piece of work lately. being the middle kid aint easy...said every middle child and no mom ever. </div>
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honestly, this is pretty much how brooks felt the whole trip. he just wasn't himself and barely could get enough energy to celebrate his birthday. it wouldn't be a family vacation if one of my kids isn't sick. bless him.</div>
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once we got back i realized i had scheduled our annual cardiologist check up for the monday morning following spring break...who does that?? and then as if that were not enough we found out carson had his final installment of special olympics that same day. lucky for me both things were within just a few miles of each other. after another glowing report from the cardiologist (ekg and echo both looked great...too great for a kid with a heart that was so damaged but i don't dare question how or why) we were off to watch carson and his friends compete. </div>
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heart check up done! passed with flying colors. </div>
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this kid...he has the best sense of humor. he would pretend he needed his walker just to then run away from the poor kid trying to keep up with him.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="1138" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/215546639" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe> <a href="https://vimeo.com/215546639">IMG_2630</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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two second place finishes for this kid, and that is with some bum knees healing from arthritis. way to go buddy!</div>
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april is also full of baseball for this kid. he always gives it his best and is still waiting for the day he can crack one to the outfield. he did get his second game ball for making an amazing catch (with his eyes closed, sandlot style) in the outfield. can you tell he was super pumped?</div>
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little cutie at the game</div>
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and because i hadn't gotten enough of the beach i went back down with some friends for a weekend of tennis and fun...lots of fun! it was much needed girl time laughing and hitting the tennis ball around. </div>
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um, notice neither picture is of us actually playing tennis. that definitely was secondary to beach and bar time.</div>
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and as april comes to a close i realize that there will be two other bodies home with us all day every day so shelby and i are trying to get our shopping in before two boys invade our space!<br />
at target, one of our favorite spots!<br />
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i think i may of created a tiny mini monster<br />
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and welcome may. isn't this how you usually drop off your brothers' at school? girlfriend has got some serious confidence. <br />
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-58756161380667461302017-04-11T07:36:00.000-05:002017-04-11T07:36:23.100-05:00you are 10...dear sweet carson,<br />
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today you turn ten years old. double digits. we've joked about this for about six months now, that i am just not willing to accept it and you'll have to stay nine. you always laugh and tell me there is no way you are staying nine, it is time to be ten! you have no idea what a gift these past ten years have been to this world with you in it. your kind spirit. your amazing smile. your incredible sense of humor. your knack for one liners that only you can deliver. simply you. you are our miracle. our little 1 lb 15 oz fight like hell miracle. you have let nothing keep you down since the day you were born. you are our kind hearted, silly, superhero loving, bust a move to your favorite jam, pool party animal, ten year old. you made us mom and dad and even though there have been some really, really hard times you have made it all so easy to do and oh so worth every single second. we would do anything just to make you smile because even on the worst of days it can make us feel better. we are so proud of the kid you have become and cannot wait to see what else you have in store for us because kid, we know it'll be something awesome! </div>
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happy 10th birthday to the most amazing superhero we know. </div>
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ten! {sigh}</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-48961806100516320372017-04-06T04:00:00.000-05:002017-04-06T04:00:19.766-05:00happy 8 (or 18, i can't tell from these pictures)dear brooks,<br />
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today is your 8th birthday! 8! you have been asking if you could just tell people you are 8 for the last six months now. you are always wanting it to be a day, a week, a month into the future. always moving just ahead of the rest of us. which makes sense as to why you had to come just early enough that your birthday comes before your older brother's. you may push the boundaries here at home. always wanting five more minutes, one more candy bar, one extra hug (it's hard to deny you that), one more turn. you are a master negotiator which i guess you get from your daddy. you push us to exhaustion. but boy are you sweet. your teachers tell us how you are such a good friend to everyone. you are always willing to help and are always listening. i see all these traits in you when you aren't looking here at home too. you are always aware of your older brother carson and the trials he has. just the other day when he was getting his first shot at home you were so fearful for him and for your sister you wanted her to come with you upstairs. i know it was because you couldn't stand to see your brother upset or in pain. you are sweet all the way down to your soul. i couldn't ask for a better you. as i was looking at these pictures i took of you it took my breath away. i can see exactly what you will look like as a young man and it makes me so proud to be your mom. may you always have your sweet spirit and strong determination. happy birthday to my baseball loving, play outside all day long, sweet, kind, stubborn, exhausting, lovable, best buddy brooks! </div>
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"may you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true, may you always know the truth, and see the lights surrounding you. may you always be courageous, may you always be strong, and may you stay, forever young." </div>
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and my favorite part of birthdays...the birthday questionnaire! i love seeing what has changed each year. fyi...the only constant is his favorite color. <br />
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-87166611995412530622017-03-31T22:33:00.000-05:002017-03-31T23:07:08.211-05:00one tough cookieyesterday carson and i spent the day at egleston (children's healthcare of atlanta) meeting with our new rheumatologist. yes, we now have our very own arthritis specialist. we were at the front doors of egleston at 8 am sharp ready to tackle whatever she had to tell us. and she had a lot. it really was a lot to take in. basically, what we thought was some arthritis in his right knee and possibly his right thumb turned out to be arthritis in just about all of his joints. including his spine. um, excuse me? oh, and from looking at his mri and doing some quick ultrasounds of his hands and knees it looks like he has had it for "some time now." like a lot longer than the 6 weeks we have been dealing with all of this. annnnnd enter mom guilt. how in the world could we of not noticed this before hand? how has this 9 year old boy been dealing with all this pain without so much as uttering a single complaint? how? why? these were all the things that smacked me in the face as i'm listening to this doctor go over our treatment plan. our short term and long term plans for battling whatever it is that is attacking all of his skinny little joints. <br />
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so what is the long and the short of it? well we have started him on an oral steroid to take care of any immediate pain, which in the last few days has really been his knee and his neck. we upped his aleve dosage, we added a once a week injection that we administer at home (eek!) for long term maintenance of his immune system attacking his joints, because we are lowering his immune system we have to battle that with some folic acid and because he is now on so much medicine we are treating his stomach with some zantac. and then once we get back from spring break we will see our cousin kelley so that she can give him some steroid shots in his knees to really knock out the inflammation. it's all a bit overwhelming but we will master it and if i know carson he'll do it with a smile and probably in a batman costume. because let's face it. everything is easier when you are pretending to be batman. <br />
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i gave him his first injection tonight...it went as well as you can image it would with a kid who is terrified of shots and needles. we explained what was happening, why we had to do it and that it would be over with soon (till the next week, but we left that out for now). as i was in the middle of poking him with the syringe he's yelling at me, "why would you do this to me? why?" annnnnnd more mom guilt. it breaks my heart that this sweet, kind, loving, strong, amazing miracle has to go through all of this. and to top it all off, this has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with any of his other medical issues. this is totally random, genetic and the way his cards fell. an autoimmune disease. i'm not sure of the plan god has for this kid and the paths he has to take but it better be something amazing. this is reaching the point of too much. but, how does he handle it all? with a smile and a laugh. and how do andrew and i make the tears go away? dessert for dinner! whatever his little heart desired. and the silver lining to all of this is that just after one day of the oral steroid he was 75% back to his old self. i watched him walk on his own to the car after school and nearly fell on the ground. for 6 weeks i have had to literally fully support him as he tried to walk anywhere. he has been dragging himself around the house not even being able to get to the bathroom on his own. it was heart breaking and nothing was working, but seeing him today makes me believe that this too shall pass...it may come back but we know how to beat it for now. but just seeing him be able to actually move around on his own is a miracle in itself. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="1138" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/211050021" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe> <a href="https://vimeo.com/211050021">IMG_2538</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user11848482">Lauren Hess</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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on a side note, our school, buford academy, has been beyond accommodating with us these past few weeks. from the ladies at the front desk, to his teachers and administrators we have been more than blessed. what an amazing community to be a part of. i cannot tell you how many times a day i hear someone, be it adult or student, yell out carson's name and it warms my heart to see just how much of a family this system has been. #itsgreattobeabufordwolf </div>
Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-73533729363364368202017-03-11T15:13:00.000-05:002017-03-11T15:13:20.465-05:00bum kneeso in true carson fashion, he decides to throw us yet another curve ball in the month of march. if you don't already know, march is not really my favorite month. i went into preterm labor march 17 and didn't leave the hospital till i had the boys at 26 weeks. then three years ago in march, carson decided to start having seizures (thank God we got that under control. seizure free for almost three years now!) needless to say, i don't like march. you would never guess that this skinny, quiet, sweet kid could cause so much stress and anxiety! about a month ago we noticed that his knee was about three times the normal size. did we notice because he was complaining? nope. he was just at his regular PT session when she noticed it. we thought it was weird and asked if he maybe fell that day. sure enough, he took a little tumble in PE. no big deal, he does that all the time. he said he got back up and kept running. just like he always does. he didn't even go see his friends in the clinic for ice. so, just thinking it was swollen from the fall we went on with our week. playing, ninja class, school, etc. till friday morning when the poor thing couldn't walk. literally, fell straight to the floor every time he took a step. so off to the orthopedic doctor we went. with a quick text to our cousin here in atlanta who is an ortho with children's we were off to see one of his colleagues (if i've said it once i've said it a thousand times. we are beyond lucky to have dave and kelley here at the best children's hospital. they have been a godsend to use and our medically "needy" kids! more on that to come!). <br />
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so, best we could tell from x-rays and timing of when his knee was swollen the doctor thought he may of popped his knee cap out of place when he fell. ouch. he put carson in a knee immobilizer and told us to ice it and keep him on motrin. good thing for us, we had the whole next week off of school so he could rest it. bad news for him, we were going to the great wolf lodge for two days and it wasn't going to be easy to get around. but as usual he makes do with a smile on his face the whole time!</div>
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getting our brace</div>
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at the water park...with headphones and his iPad. this would equal heaven to carson. he is in his happy place and not being made to ride any water slides.</div>
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after a week of immobilizing his knee we moved to a smaller more manageable brace that would let him walk around much easier. the thing was, his knee wasn't getting much better. it still was warm to the touch, still really swollen and at times carson really seemed like he was in pain. going off of some mother's instinct i called the doctor and asked to take another look at it. he agreed with me that it should be getting much better by now and definitely shouldn't still be warm to the touch. so, with that, it was off to the hospital to get some labs and schedule an MRI for as soon as possible which turned out to be 6:30 am two days later. in the meantime, we were just supposed to keep icing and taking motrin. </div>
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carson hasn't been able to do ninja class in 3 weeks but his awesome coach made sure he still got to stand on the podium and get his medal!</div>
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ninja brooks. side note...we love this little program at the gymnastics center by our house. the boys love bouncing around the gym using all the equipment.</div>
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and here we are, post 6:30 am MRI. we were the first ones there bright and early. carson did great, i was worried they would have to sedate him but he was able to get it done with just watching a movie. i was able to sit next to him and he could see me in mirror. he got a little scared as the machine really got going but pulled through like a champ. i was so proud of him. this kid is 44 pounds of pure awesome. he has had to deal with so much and it kills me to see him in such pain and unable to do all the things he love like chasing his sister around and dancing in between bowls on wii bowling night, and playing on the playground at school. the other day he was scooting himself down the stairs and i said to him, "hey buddy. you look so sad. what's up?" and he said, "it's just my knee. it really hurts." annnnnd heat broken. to see your kid's spirit broken is by far one of the worst feeling as a parent. if i could replace his knee with mine i would do it. just to see him running around again like we worked so hard to get him to be able to do. no surprise that in this picture he is smiling!</div>
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here is a shot of what his knee looks like. i promise you we feed this child. he has the skinniest legs i have ever seen. but you can tell just how swollen his knee is compared to his other boney little knee.</div>
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so what did all these tests show? as i was sitting in the MRI room with carson all i could do is pray that it is something manageable, treatable, something that will get better. of course my mind had wandered to the worst. what if...was all i played in my head. it's not a fun game when it's your kid laying there. i can say for sure that he is ok. there is nothing life threatening going on. praise God. you have no idea the relief i felt. however, we don't get to walk away without adding a diagnosis to our ever growing list. the MRI showed lots of inflammation in his joints which points us to juvenile arthritis. we don't really know much of anything just yet. thanks to our cousin kelley who is a radiologist with children's, she was able to get us an appointment at the end of the month with an amazing rheumatologist (the waitlist is up to 6 months...yes, months). this is a whole new arena for us. i'm not really sure what she will tell us or what the next steps will be. i just want his knee to be fixed and to see him back to normal and out of pain. but even with this bum knee look at this sweet face. we will go to the moon and back to make sure he is happy and healthy!</div>
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"a true hero isn't measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart"</div>
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if this is true then this kid is invincible. </div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-47727512754564970022017-02-24T11:54:00.003-05:002017-02-24T11:54:53.238-05:00getting so bighow did my tiny little blonde baby boy get to be so big...and smart...and active...and he's only seven. he's leaving the stages of playing with toys and cartoons and now wanting to learn chess and watch shows with us like the big bang, or the middle. he actually gets some of the humor. it's so fun to see him turn into a tiny adult. and then he'll cry because it's bedtime and i'm reminded he still is my baby boy, too. <br />
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he is actually turning into a very good chess player. way better than i will ever be. he sees moves ahead of time and anticipates what will come next. i'm more of a checkers person, but for him i'll do anything...so chess it is! let's just say he usually wins. <br />
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i absolutely love this little face with will his freckles. </div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-30899944976580768832017-02-03T12:50:00.000-05:002017-02-03T12:50:17.227-05:00favorite time of the dayshelby's favorite time of the day is to sit outside and wait for the boys' bus to pull around the corner. she loves to listen for the kids getting off the bus and running to her brothers. one of them reaches for her hand and one runs away from her. i'll let you guess who is who. still, she loves both of them so much and asks where "the brothers" are multiple times a day. <br />
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standing on her rock waiting</div>
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"i think i hear the bus"</div>
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can you say excited?</div>
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yelling to "the brothers" she is so happy they are home!</div>
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she caught one of them</div>
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seriously. i can't handle the sweetness these two have for one another. notice who is no where near them...he still loves his sister but doesn't tolerate her as much as carson does. everyone should have a big brother like carson, though. </div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-9458331730440084272017-01-24T09:05:00.000-05:002017-02-03T12:51:44.377-05:00cutest little gymnastafter 3 years of watching her brothers do all kids of fun stuff shelby decided it was her turn. i figured it would be good for her to have a little class of her own and also get her used to following direction from someone other than me. so of course we had to get her the most precious little leotard out there, and throw her in her little gym. she was so excited to go the her "ninja" class (the boys go to ninja class at the gym and she comes to watch) she wore her leotard for two days. it's not east to explain to a 3 year old that she still has two days till her turn. friday morning came and we got dressed and then refused to go in. after a few minutes of me standing in the corner though, she forgot all about her fear of being more that three feet away from me and actually had fun. it is the most precious thing to see her running around trying to do all the things everyone else is doing. we've been three times now and every time she does not want me to leave the room but then forgets all about me once the fun begins! <br />
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little bit dressed and ready...two days early.</div>
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first class sitting on her little spot. she refused to move or do any of the warm up exercises. stubborn little thing.</div>
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how could we resist this little leotard? it's just like elsa!</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-44905404012486518032017-01-02T11:23:00.000-05:002017-01-02T11:25:27.127-05:00merry christmas and happy new year!<br />
i'm super late in getting this post out...story of my life these days. three kids and christmas time is no joke. not to mention we were having our floors redone which meant cleaning up christmas and everything else one day later. it was kinda sad to see everything come down so quickly but also nice to have it done. so, even though it's a week late we would like to wish everyone a merry christmas and a very happy new year! 2016 feels like it just flew by. going back and looking at all the pictures on my phone we had some really fun times this year.<br />
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january we got our first "snow" at the new house. i use the word snow very loosely. </div>
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february brooks had his annual heart check up which he passed with flying colors. </div>
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march brought carson's favorite day at school, dr. seuss's birthday</div>
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and also lots of spring baseball for brooks</div>
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and easter</div>
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in april i took the kids to orlando for spring break and "shared" megan's hotel room she had for a work conference. we got to see all our favorites.</div>
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megan and i also took brooks to our favorite place, universal studios! we're hoping the next time we go he'll be tall enough to do some of the big rides. poor kid was just a few inches short.</div>
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may concluded the special olympics for carson and his class. they competed in track and field and had a great time!</div>
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it also concluded spring baseball for brooks. you can see the excitement in these two.</div>
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and then as quickly as school started it was over and the boys were done with their first year in their new school. </div>
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june brought on our favorite time of the year...lake season!</div>
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we also traveled to illinois and went to the great wolf lodge with our cousins. </div>
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and then we celebrated grandma white and her incredible life. family gatherings just aren't the same anymore but we know she is holding her cup of coffee and a few special ones with her watching all of us. this is almost all of her great grandchildren. it was like herding cats for this picture.</div>
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and then all of the grandchildren.</div>
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and all 6 kids and some of their cousins</div>
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in june, carson got to take part in a robotic rehab program at children's healthcare. we are so fortunate to live near by one of the top children's hospitals. people were traveling from all over just to come to this program. we are already signed up for another round this summer.</div>
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and another anniversary down. 13 years and going strong.</div>
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july looked a lot like this...</div>
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it was a hot summer and with a neighborhood with no pool we spent lots of time inside places like the aquarium with friends.</div>
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and then in august we caved and decided to do this. eek!</div>
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the almost finished product in september! we got to get in a few times up till mid-October but we can not wait for summer this year!</div>
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at the end of september this little bit turned 3. 3! where is my baby at?</div>
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we took the kids to our favorite spot in october on the way to the beach.</div>
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and then headed to seaside with my parents for a long weekend.</div>
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in november someone wanted to go see a real football game so we of course took him to the loveliest village on the plains...</div>
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perfect day. tigers with a win and the trees get rolled at toomer's corner. it was awesome!</div>
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and that brings us back to december. closing out another year with my favorite people. life with these 3 is more than i ever could of imagined. andrew and i are so lucky we were chosen to be their parents. don't get me wrong, it isn't always easy. in fact, it's hardly ever easy. but it's worth every second of the 365 days in every year. here's to an excellent 2016 and an even better 2017! may this year be filled with happiness, love and joy (and you can really feel all of that in some of these pictures i tried to get for our card this year...)</div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137572213523891922.post-9195841197837961462016-12-16T16:01:00.000-05:002016-12-16T16:01:09.125-05:00we found our tree!<div>
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brooks really wanted to cut this tree down, griswold style. we opted for a smaller one but i like the way he is thinking. the bigger the better, at least when it comes to christmas trees!</div>
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my boys. </div>
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and their little blonde shadow.</div>
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found the one! she is lit up and decorated by my little elves. </div>
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Andrew and Lauren Hesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935736180809517928noreply@blogger.com0