Addy's Crawling!

I got some pix of Addy crawling but I couldn't get any of her with her head off of the ground! She will take about two to three creeps! She usually does keep her head down but she'll get there! We had no AC in our upstairs today so we were burning up and spent most of the day downstairs where it was nice and cool! Addy had OT today and we went ahead and toughed out the heat upstairs, thanks Delene for being a trooper! Delene is Cooper and Addy's OT and a very close friend of mine. She is so awesome! She taught Addy how to play ball today, it was so cute. Usually Addy could care less about giving anything to anyone, she wants to keep it! She had a great session and is moving right along! She has even learned a new sign this week, "bath"! She knows one body part too, HAIR! She's known that one for awhile, I just kept forgetting to document it!I am amazed everyday about her progress! She is truly amazing!











Both the boys had ball games tonight, Cooper's team won and Avery's lost, however, Avery made two outs at first base! He also got two good hits, one was a double!

Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back

BUNCO BABES
RELAY FOR LIFE TEAM 2008
MARSHFIELD, MO

Well, I walked several miles, developed the grossest most disgusting, and painful blister on my left big toe, but I stayed up all night and participated in our Relay for Life here in Marshfield, MO. Our tiny community raised over $96,000 for the American Cancer Society!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have broken our community record by almost $20,000! Isn't that fantastic!!!??? We are so pleased! My Bunco Babes team raised $7,401! Yeah! I am exhausted, extremely sore, but it is nothing compared to what friends and loved ones of mine have endured during their treatments for cancer. My pain and fatigue will pass. My dad endured over 4 straight years of chemotherapy, surgeries, biopsies and side effects that he not once complained about. This man lost over 9 vertebrae due to Multiple Myeloma, spent months in the hospital and you know what. He never complained. He went to work, loved his family and was thankful for his life. I miss this man so much. My mom fortunately found her breast cancer early and only had to endure one surgery and six weeks of radiation, but she did it. She was tired and was also dealing with Rheumatoid arthritis and Fibromyalgia, but she did it. I spent one night walking and I am wiped out. Since coming home this morning I have gotten some sleep, but I sit here and complain of my pain and exhaustion. How can I do that when so many people deal with this every day for years? I pray that the Lord helps scientists and doctors find a cure for this devastating disease. That is the least I can do right now and I would appreciate it if all my friends and family could do the same. Thank you Lord for my health and the wonderful doctors that found my mother's cancer, treated her and made her healthy. Thank you Lord for taking my daddy to heaven so he has no more pain. I pray for everyone who is enduring cancer and those who are with loved ones dealing with this disease. Lord I pray that every woman does monthly breast exams and gets their yearly mammograms, I pray all of us wear sunscreen to protect our skin. I pray that everyone takes care of their bodies and Fights Back against cancer. I Celebrate my mom's health, I Remember my Dad and I am Fighting Back against cancer. Thank you for helping me Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

A Blue star for those we remember...

A Purple Star for those we Celebrate

And Red Stars for Those FIGHTING BACK!

Busy week

This week has been pretty busy! Both of the boys had their first ball games of the season on Tuesday. I got pix of Cooper's game but then took Addy home between his and Avery's game and left the camera at home! I will post pix of his game next week! Cooper did so good! He got two hits, and RBI and scored a run. He was so excited!
I have been busy this week finishing up things for Relay for Life. I'm doing some of the decorations for our campsite so I've been putting stars together. Today they will all be strung on fishing line to hang. This should be fun! I want thank those of you that sent a donation for our team. We raised almost $7,000!!! We are so pleased! I can't wait to see what our town was able to do! We're hoping to top $70,000 again, what a great blessing to the American Cancer Society! We will be walking tomorrow night from 7pm until 7am so please say a prayer for us! I'll be sleeping all day Saturday!
Addy's therapists have been in full force this week. We're still trying to make up some time from our vacation. She is progressing so nicely! She is now able to get up on all fours! She's going to be crawling before we know it! It's time that Scott build our stair barrier!
We got registered for our first local Buddy Walk this week too! Addy's Army will be participating in our Down Syndrome Group of the Ozarks First Annual Buddy Walk on July 21st. The participant who raises the most money will throw the first pitch with Albert Pujols from the St. Louis Cardinals! If you didn't, know, he has a daughter, Isabella (she was his wife's child whom he adopted!), who has Down syndrome. He founded the Albert Pujols Foundation www.thealbertpujolsfoundation.org in support of DS. He is my boys' favorite player and they can't wait to meet him in July!

Happy Father's Day Daddy, I Miss You More Than You Will Ever Know

John K. Davis

John K. Davis, 65, Springfield, Mo., passed away on Wednesday, October 25, surrounded by his loving family. He was born November 7, 1940, in Norman, Oklahoma. John graduated from Classen High School, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1958 and the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1963. John started his career with Southwestern Power Administration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as an Electrical Engineer and Public Utility Specialist before advancing to a position of Project Engineer with Buckeye Power, Inc., in Columbus, Ohio. He enthusiastically filled the position of General Manager and C.E.O. of Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative in Marshfield, Mo., since 1975. He was a past president of the National G&T Managers Association and one of the longest serving G&T managers in the country. John proudly served on the Board of Directors for Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., Springfield, Mo., and the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, Jefferson City, Mo. John's relationship with staff and professional peers has transcended anything commonly seen in the industry. He has generously mentored employees to foster their professional and personal growth. He has become a close friend to his colleagues, building strong bonds of mutual respect and admiration. His peers recently honored his generous and insightful leadership by selecting him to receive the Franklin R. Stork Democracy Award to recognize his lifetime of service to the Rural Electric Cooperatives. John fought against the limitations of his declining health to continue to go to work because he considered the people he worked with to be like members of his own family and he preferred being with them to anything he might have done if he had taken disability leave. His heroic commitment to his work has been permanently memorialized in Sho-Me Power's decision to name their newest building the John K. Davis Engineering Center. John was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Evelyn Davis. John is survived by those who have loved him and worked to help him to survive; his devoted wife and love of 42 years, Nancy; son, J. Kent Davis II and his wife, Jill, Nixa, Mo.; daughter, Cammie Heflin and her husband, Scott, Marshfield, Mo. John had seven grandchildren that he treasured deeply, Jarika Heflin, John Kent Davis III, Kory Davis, Cooper Heflin, Laura Patton, Avery Heflin and Liz Davis that will always remember him as Papa. A celebration of his life will be held at National Avenue Christian Church, Springfield, Mo., at 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 30, with Dr. Roger Ray officiating. Arrangements under the care of Gorman-Scharpf Brentwood Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the John K. Davis Engineering Scholarship at Metropolitan National Bank, PO. Box C, Marshfield, MO 65706 or the National Avenue Christian Church Outreach Program at 1515 South National, Springfield, MO 65807. The family would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Robert Ellis, the nurses at the Hulston Cancer Center, and the Community Hospices of America, Southwest.

We're off of O2!!!!!!!!!!

Before

After!!!!!!!!!

I got the wonderful news today that Addy's sleep study from last night was NORMAL! That means no more O2!!! We are so excited! This is so huge! Her little face will finally be free of tubes and stickies! Last night's study showed no signs of apnea and she maintained normal oxygen saturations during nine hours of sleep! Yeah!

Here's a pic of Jarika's first day of work! Isn't she precious!?!?!

Cooper is home!

Yesterday morning my very good friend, Susan, and I headed with Addy, Avery and her daughter Caroline to El Dorado Springs to pick our boys up from church camp. We were all so excited! As I mentioned before, Cooper has never been away like this! I was worried about him, but I wanted him to experience camp and make new friends, which isn't necessarily easy for him. We got to the camp after a couple of hours driving and got out and saw Kellan smiling ear to ear. This kid has got the biggest dimples ever, he is a doll! We were still waiting for Cooper and Avery and Caroline decided to play tether ball while we waited. I looked down a path and I see my precious boy waving a huge wave and then he made a bee line straight to me! He gave me the biggest hug! I mean a hug with arms wrapped around me and everything! Cooper hugs with his head. I know that sounds funny, but he has always hugged this way. He just leans his head over to you and that is a hug. But not this time! An actual, I missed my mom hug! He looked up at me and had tears in his eyes and said "I missed you mom". It was really sweet. I had not planned on bringing Avery with me but he was wanting to come and I couldn't blame him, he missed his brother! I told Cooper that I had Avery and he said "Where!?!?" Before I could tell him, we heard Avery yelling "Cooper Cooper!" and they ran to each other and hugged and hugged, patted each others' backs and both were in tears! It was the sweetest sight I have ever seen. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but it is an image I will never forget!
We came home and I noticed Coop was holding his arm funny. He said it hurt under his arm. I had him raise his arm and had two huge welts under in his armpit! I assumed it was bites of some sort and put Caladryl on it. Well, we ended up going to urgent care because it kept spreading and he was hurting. Guess what, another allergy! My smelly little boy is going to have to be a bit smelly right now because he had an allergic reaction to his deodorant! I felt like an idiot, but he is now on a prescription to clear it up and now we know! My brother called while I was at UC with Cooper. Avery answered the phone. If you know my brother, you know that he is a complete and total prankster at all times. Avery told him I took Cooper to the doctor because he had a bruise on his elbow. Not quite, but in Avery terms, right on target. Kent asked him "What did you do to him?" Avery said "No, he got it at church camp, not here." Kent says "Oh, so do you think God did it since he was at church camp." My precious little boy replied "Well Uncle Kent, God is with us all the time so I guess he could have done it!" Cracked me up!

JARIKA GOT A JOB! We are so excited! She has been looking for weeks and nothing has turned up. She went to turn in some more applications yesterday after a day of cheer camp and the manager interviewed and hired her on the spot! She looked fine, but not to her, she just camp from a camp with no AC She is now employed by Sonic woo hoo! She's really excited and she starts tonight! She's so glad she will actually have money now! I've been paying her for watching Addy two days a week but it barely pays her gas right now! So I now get to enjoy an employee discount of 10% Yeah! Sad, I know, but we live in such a small town, going to Sonic is entertainment!

Addy has now gone a whole week with no oxygen at all during the daytime. She went all night last night too! We did another in home sleep study and it will determine if she needs it at night at all in if her slight apnea episodes have gone. Having the T&A has done wonders for her!

I will post pix tomorrow, I'm going to enjoy my kiddos for the day!

Our final day in Orlando

This was definitely our favorite park! Everyone had a blast! Addy loved Spongebob, you couldn't really tell by the pix but she kept smiling and laughing at him! After Shrek 4D we met Donkey and Shrek and Fiona. Donkey was hilarious. He talked to all of the kids and was a riot! He sounded exactly like Eddie Murphy too!

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