Summer BBQ

Trenton helping me frost the cake for Hunter's birthday.

Crazy little boys.

Renton, Kellee, Kimo, Andrew, Grammie, Poppy, Brett and Dad.

Trenton eating a watermelon popsicle.

Trenton sits down and Debra gets up.

Cheese!

My sweet little boy.
Papa D

It isn't a summer BBQ at the Murphy's without a waterfight. Gran made sure there were filled water balloons and she and the little kids started this wet event.

Here is Brett getting in on the fun.

Trenton and Brett plotting to get Gran.

Grammie can't believe they do this on purpose.

Uncle Andrew is ready to play.

Conner is a smart kid. He's decided he's wet enough and climbed in this chair to stay out of the crossfire.

Look at that face. Debra does not like this game.

This BBQ was to celebrate Hunter's 21st b-day. He didn't get the message so we celebrated without him. Happy Birthday to you!!

Blowing out the candles.

Saying good-bye Aren't they cute?

What a pair. Conner and Poppy. Yes, Conner know's his sucker is gone. He likes to eat the paper.

Kisses all around.

Me and my boys.

What happened to Mr. Frog?

Okay, let me start by saying I was trying to save his life! When Trenton catches frogs we keep them for 3-4 days, feed them spiders, crickets, or grasshoppers, and then let them go in our yard. It was first thing in the morning and time to let Mr. Frog go. Trenton, the king negotiator, asked for 5 more minutes to play with him and I agreed (my first mistake). A few minutes later he called and said he needed my help. He had put Mr.Frog inside this rocket.

The rocket as you can see is about an inch in diameter so the frog was totally stuck. I decided to help him (mistake #2). We tried to shake him out, pull him out, nothing was working so I thought I would cut the rocket (mistake #3). The tip of the rocket was solid so I started at the top and cut horizontally and inched my way down. Soon enough I slit the throat of the frog as he was stretch out--I thought he was scrunched in a ball. EEWW... I screamed, Trenton screamed, and the frog gulped for air. Amazingly, the frog was still alive and didn't seem too injured although he lost a few toes as well. He hopped away looking for his mommy and daddy according to Trenton. What's worse is Trenton and his friend found him 24 hours later and he didn't look quite so well. I probably should have put him out of his misery and now I know for next time. When we told Brett what happened he said, "why didn't you cut the rocket vertically and then rip the rocket to get him out?" Hmm...I never thought of that but thanks for the great advice for next time. So sorry Mr. Frog!

Surgery Update

Trenton had the tumor removed successfully. It was a mature teratoma and was benign thank goodness. We should not need to visit the cancer unit or the Oncologist again. Deep breath. The teratoma has probably been growing in his chest since he was in utero. Teratoma's generally come from another baby-oh yes at some point I was probably pregnant with twins but the other never fully developed. Teratoma's usually have bits of hair, nail and bone fragments and this was true with Trenton's too. Crazy, I know. Now we wait for August when he will have another CT Scan to be sure everything is working properly and the tumor is fully gone. He will also have an ultrasound on his thyroid as they found a nodule in the original CT Scan. This probably means another surgery but should be less intrusive than the first.

More surgery pics

In the wagon and ready to head home.

Daddy running through the halls and Trenton yells "Faster daddy faster!"

Trenton loved the wagon we were allowed to use after moving out of ICU. He slept in it while I slept in his bed.

Trenton's first meal several days after surgery.

Look at my red popsicle.

He's awake!

This is a poster our friend at the hospital, Miranda made so the many nurses and doctors coulf get to know what Trenton's likes, dislikes, and schedule was.

Look at that smile and all those friends in bedwith him. He was a bit unhappy when he first woke up but he settled fairly quickly and we watched a lot of movies.

I never thought that smile would come soon enough!

I need a nap!

Surgery Pics

Trenton in ICU after surgery. The bear next to him and the green blanket he is laying on were gifts from the hospital. The bear is a build-a-bear and Miranda helped him put a diaper, hospital gown, and mask on him before surgery. They were dressed the same. It made him feel more comfortable.

Ooh..I told them when they put the diaper on him that he would not be happy when he woke up. Just for the record, I was right!

Although these are not my favorite pictures, I think it's important to document this time in our lives for Trenton in the future.

Trenton's Surgery

What happened? In March 2009 I took Trenton to the doc in the box on a Saturday for pink eye and we left with several prescriptions for pnemonia. The doctor decided to take X-rays as he thought Trenton had pnemonia. WHAT? I felt like mother of the year. Yes, he had a cough but I in no way thought it was more serious.

April 2, 2009: Two weeks later I received a call from the radiologists office who had reviewed the X-rays. She stated they found a mass in Trenton's chest and needed to call our pediatrician immediately. Note to all you doctors out there...Before giving news such as this...tell the person on the other end of the phone to sit down! After a few hysterical minutes I called the doctor, Brett and left work. Deep breath...An hour later we headed to St. Lukes hospital for another X-ray and CT Scan to confirm the mass. It was confirmed. Our pediatrician, Katherine Stevens, who is fantastic, met us at the hospital to help us with our options. We decided to head home for the night and would meet with the surgeon the next day. I'm not sure we slept but we did go home.

April 3, 2009: Called the surgeon and was told he'd call back in 10 minutes. 2 hours later we grabbed our swimsuits and headed to Brett's parents to sit in the hot tub. We were going crazy at home waiting for the phone to ring. On the way, the surgeon called and asked us to meet him at the hospital. We met with him and the Oncologist over the next 4 hours and it was determined Trenton needed surgery now. He was admitted onto the pediatric oncology floor (which completely freaked us out). Surgery was scheduled for 6:00 pm.

5:00 pm: We were playing in the waiting room with many family members and friends and they showed up for pre-op. We said our goodbys and headed downstairs. Trenton did a great job. I attempted to pay attention and tried to act as if I wasn't upset. Not an easy thing to do.

6:00 pm: Surgery--it would be a 2-2 and a half hour surgery and someone would update us as to how he was doing. I won't go into the details of the thoughts that went through my head during this time but I would like to thank all our loved ones who offered their support either by sitting with us, calling, or bringing food.

8:30 pm: No word yet. We were waiting on pins and needles to hear that our baby was fine.

9:00 pm: Finally, a nurse comes out to let us know he's doing fine but the tumor had wrapped itself around his trachea so they were having to chip the calcium deposits away one little bit at a time. They expected it to take a few more hours.

1:30 am: We received word that they were ready to close Trenton up and since he had been open and on life support for so long they would be taking him to ICU. Our friends and family headed home for some rest.

2:30 am: Dr. Curnow, our amazing surgeon, came out to let us know Trenton was fine but had been through a very traumatic surgery. He would be in ICU at least a few days. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Guitar 101

Yes, we allow our son to standon the coffee table to dance and perform to Brett's guitar playing.

Brett and Trenton playing guitar and singing. They wrote a song about strumming soft in an effort to teach Trenton not to break the strings.

Still camping

All tuckered out.Both of them slept the whole way home.

Trenton: Is it okay to pee on trees?
Me: Only when we are camping.

Trenton: Why can't I pee on trees at home?

Me: Because we have bathrooms.

Trenton: And because people driving by will see my penis.

I'm learning to use the saw to help daddy gather wood for the campfire.

Chillin' in the afternoon.Brett sawing log number 246. Trenton was very helpful at gathering and stacking wood. Tucker on the other hand snags our wood and runs off with it. Any tricks for training our dog?

Camping on the Middle Fork

My baby boy who isn't much of a baby anymore and Tucker. We sure do love the mountains.

Aren't they cute?

Look mom! ROCKS!!

Trenton dumping out his makeshift bug box to put his butterfly in.

Trenton and Brett trying to catch butterflies in the woods.

We love to fish!

For being 3 years old, we really were impressed at his patience for fishing. It must be in his blood. This fishing adventure lasted hours and Trenton threw a fit when it was time to leave.

So, Trenton did not catch a fish but Brett caught a large mouth bass and as you can see they are both very proud. They did throw the fish back into the pond even though I wanted to keep it. There is nothing better than fresh bass for dinner especially when Brett cooks it. Next time...

We found this pond where we were told it was very easy to catch fish. So far not the case but they are both still smiling.

Fishing rod, tackle box, smile and I'm ready to go!