I'm BAAAAAAAAACCCCKKKKK!!!

Yikes! Where have we been this past month and a half??? Contrary to those who have been thinking we MAY have fallen off the face of the earth...we really haven't! We are still here, alive and well. Busy...but alive and well! :-)

I know that I have been a TERRIBLE blogger lately! I have totally gotten out of the groove of updating my blog (a special apology to my great mother-in-law for this!) as well as keeping up as faithfully on others' blogs too! It started gradually. Then, as more and more time has passed, it has become harder and harder to sit down and actually write a post. Where would I even begin?

So, I thought that I would just begin with a few highlights from our lives here in the past couple of months...

**I know that a few of you have asked just how Mackenzie's first school experience is going. Well, let me say that we just couldn't be HAPPIER with how wonderful things are going for her. She absolutely loves school, has made some good buddies, and has had such a positive experience in every way! We continue to be really pleased with the school and her teacher and are so thankful to God that she was placed in the class that she was!

**That leads to the next highlight in our life. Come January 5th, we are adding an "addition" to our family during the days. I am embarking on a new venture of doing some childcare for this great teacher of Mackenzie's that I mentioned above! It has been amazing to see how all of this has come into place and the neat chance that I have had to get to know her and begin to develop a relationship with her...one that has led us to this place! So, after Christmas, her sweet little one-year old girl will join our lives and our family during the days. We are all greatly excited to have another little one around the house again. I know that our lives are going to change in many ways...but, we are ready to love on this sweet little girl and have her join our lives and our family. Kind of crazy, huh? I guess I send one to school, and I feel the need to adopt another one into the family during that time! :-) It has been neat how God has orchestrated this all...we look forward to how He uses this in all of our lives!

**Back on October 27th, Kylie had another visit to the doctor at the Minnesota Epilepsy Group. We continue to be so thankful that we are doctoring there and feel so blessed to have the wonderful, caring doctor that we have. What a gift! Kylie continues to do VERY well. Kylie has now been seizure-free for over two years! On October 1, 2008, we hit the "two-year mark"!!! She has done well on just one medication (Depakote) and we continue to be so thankful for how she is doing. Sure there are still ups and downs. But, for the most part, no one would ever know that our Kylie is epileptic! She is a fun-loving, silly, and sweet six-year old girlie! And, we couldn't be more thankful for how things are going! We head back in May 2009 and may possibly be looking into switching meds. The medication that she is on is not the greatest medication from a "long-term perspective" (and the doctor really thinks that this is something that Kylie will probably have to deal with for the rest of her life). It is hard on her liver, bone marrow, and is not good for fertility stuff (yes, very long term!). So, we are looking into switching to a more "clean" drug. We will see. It is hard to imagine going through the whole long, painful process of medication switching, especially when everything is going so well right now. So, I am just trying not to get too far ahead of everything here and just waiting to see what May brings! So, thanks again to all of you who have faithfully prayed for our dear Kylie. Words can't describe our gratitude to you...and to our Lord as well!!

Anyway...those are the few major events of the past few months! And, just to prove that we are still alive and well over here, I thought that I would share a few pictures from the last couple of months...

Yes, Kylie DID have a birthday party...here are her good buddies!

Something was REALLY funny here. Isn't Caleb's face hilarious?

We did enjoy the great fall we had here and took advantage of the time that we could to be outside. Raking leaves is always a big highlight. We have a huge tree in our backyard that drops down many leaves and much FUN!

We did do some fun dressing up for Halloween...however the pictures are currently MIA on a photo card that is MIA. Hopefully that turns up soon! :-)

But, here are some pictures of Pilgrims fresh off the Mayflower...

And, now the Christmas season is upon us. Yikes! Where is the time going? And, who taught these goofy kids to pose in front of the newly put-up Christmas tree?? :-)

Well...that is about it from here. To those faithful few of you who actually do check my blog, I really hope to try to be a "better blogger" in the near future!!! :-)

Tons of Pictures!!

My VERY talented, young cousin took these wonderful pictures of my kids this summer the day that we celebrated my Grandma and Grandpa's 80th birthdays.

You can check out her amazing pictures and talent at Eden Photography (I also have a link to her blog on my sidebar). I promise that you will LOVE it!!

So, I will now just let the pictures do the talking! Thanks, Beth, for your amazing work! :-)

All SEVEN grandchildren on my side of the family

The "Two-Man Band"

The "one-man band" from the days past, has now turned into a "two-man band."

While last winter was filled with drum and guitar solos, Caleb took a little time off on his music tour to concentrate on his favorite summer and fall thing to do - play FOOTBALL and pretend that he is Adrian Peterson!!! However, now that the weather is a bit colder and has been wet, Caleb is back to banging and making music!!

Here is Caleb and his buddy, Lukas, rockin' out to Caleb's made up song!

Ah, Caleb...you make me laugh! More and more I really think that we are going to have a garage band in our future. The kid LOVES to bang and create drum sets!

The real question remains, though...

Do we really ever want to get him a little "real" kid drum set to experiment with and try out? I know that he would love it...but would my EARS and HEAD??? :-)

Happy 6th Birthday, Kylie Joy!!

Dear Kylie Joy -

How can it be that my "baby girl" is already SIX??? We couldn't have named you better by giving you the middle name "Joy." Oh, how that defines just exactly WHAT you bring to our lives!

I remember the surprise of finding out that we were pregnant again (with YOU), when Mackenzie was just 8 months old. We were thrilled, of course, but I was also apprehensive to have two kiddos so close together. Daddy and I prayed for you and loved guessing if you were going to be a boy or a girl. You were SO active in my tummy that we loved watching you move around all of the time. You sure were hard on my ribs and loved to stick your feet in them!!

You were due on September 24th, and the doctor was all ready to induce me on the morning of the 25th. However, I woke up with contractions EARLY that morning, and you decided to come on your own! What a wonderful, blessing-filled surprise when the doctor said, "It's a GIRL" and we saw you in all your beauty for the first time at 11:19, on September 25, 2002!

And, now here you are, six years later. And, at just the age of six, you have been through much more than most kids your age. With all of the pokes, tests, and medication ups and downs you have endured for your seizures, you have been the biggest, bravest trooper...and we are SO very proud of you! We are so thankful for how well you are doing and that the Lord has been watching over you through all of this. It has been a struggle...and hard on you too, we know. But, we trust that God has used this in your life (even at the young age of six) to grow character and perseverance in your heart!

There are so many things we love about you Kylie and so many reasons why we are so excited to celebrate your life today. Here are just a few...

I love the way that your laugh is super contagious. One sound of your belly-laugh can always bring a smile to my face and a laugh to my heart.

I love your free-spirit. The smallest things can bring you so much joy and excitement. You have such a zeal for life, and it is catchy, my dear (even when you are naked, standing in the toilet at age two)!!!

I love the way that you love to be held, cuddled, and hugged. You are such a love-bug, and I love your tenderness and the ways that you always want to give me kisses and hugs and tell me that you love me. I know that you always won't want to get up in my lap and snuggle...so, I most definitely am enjoying it now! And, with this, I love to see how much you love to kiss and hug Caleb as well. I know that even though you think that he is super "kissable and huggable" as you like to say, I am sorry that he doesn't always love it! But, it still warms my heart to see how much you love your little brother.

And, I love to see how much you love and want to emulate your older sister too. I know that it is hard being the "younger sister" sometimes, especially when you see Mackenzie doing things that you maybe would like to do. But, you have such loyalty and allegiance to each other...I know that you would do anything for your sister and that warms my heart as your Mom!

I love your compassionate, tender heart. I love hearing you pray for the "people who don't have homes" or "the people that don't have a mommy and a daddy" or "the people who don't have any food and are hungry." Your love for others and concern for others is so evident in the ways that you think of others and pray for others. Your Daddy and I pray that the Lord would continue to grow that passion for others and their welfare in your heart.

I love the way that you are so outgoing and friendly to those around you. You are a really good friend...and I know that God is going to use you to encourage, love, and serve those He puts in your life!

I love being with you, talking with you, spending time with you, cuddling with you, and being your Mommy! Know that your Daddy and I are always here for you...we promise to love you unconditionally and always want to be a "safe place" for you to turn no matter what is going on in your life! We want to know your passions, your dreams, your struggles, your joys, and your heartaches. We love you so much, Kylie Joy!

With lots of love always,

Mommy (and Daddy too)

Watching you grow up before our very eyes...

Happy SIXTH Birthday, Kylie Joy!!!!

Oh What a Night...

As if having Mono wasn't bad enough. The fever, the tiredness, the lack of appetite, the just not feeling well. No, that just wasn't enough for our Kylie Joy today.

Here is our little Sleeping Beauty getting some much needed rest today...

Kylie decided to add a little more black and blue to her life by falling out of our jogging stroller after I took her on a little run tonight. I don't know HOW it happened, as I had my back to her and had my hands full of her blankets and books that she had brought along. But, all of a sudden I heard a blood-curling scream only to pick up Kylie and see a big black and blue mark on her forehead. Remind anyone else of THIS?

Poor thing!!! And, right before her "big day" tomorrow (more on that tomorrow). :-(

Here is Kylie after her bath tonight. As you can tell she wasn't too thrilled to be taking pictures. She was tired.

Well, until I put the camera away, that is. Then she asked if I could take a picture of her making a silly face...and that I would for sure put this one on the blog!!! :-)

You still got your humor, Kylie...bumps, bruises, Mono, and all! That is what we love about you, sweetie!!

And, to add to the night, Mackenzie came home from church activities tonight with her SECOND lost tooth! Wouldn't you know that I missed the experience yet again (I was home with Kylie).

Mackenzie's fear about losing her teeth has been that she might just accidentally swallow one when it falls out. Well, tonight she got to experience her "greatest fear" as she actually DID swallow this one!! And, instead of being mortified by it, I guess that she got the giggles and thought that it was funny!! I was teasing her that I guess the "tooth fairy" can't come then, right? No tooth, no money, right??? :-)

Here is my toothless girl...

Well...I am exhausted after today. I better gear up for the big day we have around here tomorrow! More about that...TOMORROW!!! :-)

The Shortest "Trip" to Disney World EVER!!!

As I sit here at my computer at HOME, I almost can't even believe that we were all packed up and ready to head to Disney World just on Monday.

We WERE "off" like I said in my previous post...we got all packed up on Monday morning and actually took off for Minneapolis, only to turn around at an exit about 35 miles away and head right back home.

Pat had brought Kylie in that morning to get her blood tested again. Her platelet levels had been low the day before when I had taken her into urgent care, so before we left they wanted to get her re-checked to make sure that her levels hadn't dropped anymore. The results came back and showed that her platelet levels had dropped a bit, but nothing significant.

And, even though we didn't feel GREAT about leaving based on how Kylie was feeling, we knew that she still had one day to rest, recuperate, and get better...so, we decided to head to Minneapolis and at least see what the rest of the day brought. You know how kids and viruses can be...they can be feeling not-so-great one minute, and then 12-24 hours later can be feeling great! It was SO hard to know exactly what was going on with Kylie and next to impossible to predict the future of how she would be feeling in the next day or two! It was an emotional decision because really, our Kylie Joy was not feeling well...but here was a trip that had been planned for MONTHS...and for all we knew, Kylie would be back to bouncing off the walls come Tuesday or Wednesday.

So, we left! About a half hour into the trip, I got a call on my cell phone from our clinic in town. It was the NP who had seen Kylie that morning. She second vile of blood results were in. Our pediatrician had asked the NP to order a test for Mono. Well, lo and behold, this spur of the moment decision on her part, gave us GREAT insight into what was going on with Kylie.

Yes, she has Mono. And, from what the NP said and from what others have said (I have never had it), we knew that Kylie wouldn't be feeling great this next week (or longer). And, who wants to be at Disney World when you aren't feeling well and are super tired?

What an answer to the prayers of so many that we were able to have such clarity in our decision-making!! It was such a blessing that the Mono test was ordered...even AFTER the fact. So, after getting off the phone with the NP, we called my parents and made the decision to postpone the trip. There were many tears from the Severson girls (me included!) as everyone was VERY disappointed (and I was just more emotionally exhausted) and had really been looking forward to this all...but, all and all everyone is doing OK!

The trip will happen at some point (we are looking into some time this winter/spring)...but, it was just still a let-down. Not to mention A LOT of working packing and getting organized only to come home and have to UNPACK the same day!!

Hopefully Kylie will continue to be able to get some rest to get her little body better here...and hopefully no one else will come down with Mono!! Yuck!

Kylie is doing OK. She is still super tired, feverish, doesn't have much of an appetite, needs to sleep, rest, and lay around much, and just looks pale and tired. It was so good to get to the bottom of this all and just KNOW what is going on. Huge relief! I know that I would be SOOOOO concerned about her and how she looks and feels if we didn't know what we were dealing with here. And what a huge blessing that we found out BEFORE we actually got on the plane. I can't even imagine being in Disney World with how she is feeling right now...

Thanks to all of you who prayed for us and called and emailed during this time! We appreciate it all so much! God is good...He most definitely was going before us and preparing the way for us! His loving care is amazing!!!

We are OFF...

In a couple of hours, we will leaving on a super, fun, exciting adventure!!!

For our 10th anniversary, my parents are taking our family to Disney World for a week!!! :-)
As you can imagine, the kids have been SUPER excited ever since they found out about this months ago. It seemed like such a LONG time to wait...and it is crazy how fast time goes and that our long-awaited trip is finally here!!!

Our weekend was filled with lots organizing, packing, and cleaning...AND taking care of one sick little Kylie Joy. She definitely is fighting off one bad virus (she has been very feverish, lethargic, had no appetite, borderline dehydrated, pale, and very sleepy.) So, please, if you wouldn't mind praying for her as we get ready to leave, I would greatly appreciate it! We are hoping and praying that today is the turn around day! We are driving to Minneapolis, and then flying out tomorrow morning at 8:00.

We are very much looking forward to having time together as a family after the VERY busy last few months here. And, how fun it will be to have Grandma and Grandpa with us as well and have that special quality time and memories with them too!

We won't be back until Sunday...but after that, I look forward to sharing all about our adventure with you all!!!

Take care and have a great week!

Ten Years Ago Today...

It is crazy to think that TEN years have already gone by. One decade. Ten Years. 120 months. 3,650 days. 87,600 hours. 5,256,000 minutes. 315,360,000 seconds.

Yes, TEN years have passed since Pat and I officially said "I do" and joined our lives together in marriage!

In some ways, it doesn't seem like THAT long ago that the we stood on the altar declaring our love for each other and our commitment to each other for the rest of our lives.

September 18, 1998. Ahhh...what wonderful memories I have of this day.

But, let me let you in on a little secret here. That really wasn't supposed to be our wedding date. Originally, after our engagement, we set our wedding date for November 27, 1998. I still had a quarter of school left at NWC. I was going to graduate early in November, and we were going to be married right after that.

Pat had graduated that May (1998) and had his first official youth pastor job lined up at a church in Watertown, SD. In June 1998, he moved down there into the little duplex that we would be renting once we got married. Then came the first "good-bye."

Yeah...let's just say that it didn't go over too well!!!

We missed each other SOOOOOO much. SOOOOOO much that I couldn't IMAGINE having to wait until November to see him on a regular basis! This every other weekend stuff was NOT for me (or him either!).

Within a week of his starting this new job, I was on the phone (with the help of my WONDERFUL Mom), calling around to the reception places, photographers, floral stores, etc. in my hometown with ONE purpose in mind. Moving up the wedding date. (I know...aren't we pathetic?) :-)

By this time, I had already talked with my college professors, and with great grace and understanding, the head of the Psychology Department granted me permission to take a class that he had never had anyone take correspondence before, just so that we could make this happen!! (Thanks, Dr. Johnson!). And, low and behold, even with just three and a half months notice, we were able to get the reception place we wanted and have the same flower shop and photographer do our wedding! Friday, September 18, 1998 became the new "big day"!!!

Here we are ten years ago...

Ten years later...

Through the new adjustments of being newlyweds and learning ALL there is to know about each other (some things you just can't learn until you actually live together!), through moves and transitions, through four pregnancies and three kids here on this earth, through the ups and downs of parenting, through the good times of communication and the not-so-good ones, through the tears, laughter, joys, and trials, I could have not asked for a better hubby to be blessed with!

Thanks, Pat, for loving me unconditionally, for being a great support, source of encouragement and prayer warrior, for being a wonderful father and a great example of our Heavenly Father to our kids, and for continuing to be my "knight in shining armor" - you have made these past 315,360,000 seconds of my life completely wonderful and blessed! I look forward to hundreds of millions and billions of MORE seconds with you! I am so grateful to God for you and I love you lots - and always will!