reese lane

Baby Gray...

2011-10-05T18:15:00.001-07:00

So so madly in love with a new boy. His name is Grayson John and he was welcomed into the world on August 14 by my beautiful sister Katie and her husband Ross. He weighed 7 lbs and 7 oz and was 21 inches long. Ahhhh, Gray is so blissful. Holding him is my favorite. Reese digs it too...for about 5 minutes and then she's off to the next thing. I'm so glad she likes him...she talks about him frequently and sometimes spouts off, "Mommy, I love baby Grayson." Little Gray, baby, you are loved by all!!!!

Here are some of his newborn professional pictures of Grayson we put up at his baby shower. Melt my heart...

Fresh from Heaven...

Drumroll, please...

2011-08-01T17:37:00.001-07:00

FINALLY! {It seems like I start a lot of posts like that...hmmm...I wonder if I'm a procrastinater}. Anyway, I am finally ready to post our Team Reese total and share the slide show I made with lots of fun pictures from our day. {Disclaimer: I am an amatuer in this department and have absolutely no skills in the slide show making area...so please no judging :)
Ha!}

Ok, are you ready for this?!?! DRUMROLL, PLEASE....

Team Reese raised a grand total {so far} of $24,138.35!!!

Now, I say so far because we have a poker run coming up at the end of August which usually brings in some good money, but as of now, this is where we stand!

We had over 50 Team Reese walkers participate in the Great Strides walk this year which brought the total number of walkers to more tha 500, representing more than 30 teams. The total amount raised for the event was more than $165,000, which kicks last years record in the booty!!!! Every single dollar is so important and BE ASSURED and CONFIDENT that your contribution is making a LIFE-SAVING difference...

To say we feel blessed, is a gross understatement. And to say THANK YOU, hardly seems adequate. Furthermore, to reach out to every single person who has touched us, would take a lifetime, but please know how thankful we are and we do not take of it for granted. What we can do with this complete feeling of gratitude and love and support we are shown, is to pay it forward and show others the same kind of care and concern we have been given. That is the best way I feel like we can say "THANK YOU" to everyone who has so graciously loved on us. So, we promise to do our best to do just that.

We are so entirely grateful. God Bless.

{ happy 4th of july }

2011-07-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love the 4th of July! Always so much fun and so many celebrations going on. We spent our 4th of July weekend enjoying a family friends' wedding as well as lots and lots of family time and fireworks. Reese LOVES fireworks which just brings joy to my heart as I HATED them as a child. Like hated them to the point that I would hysterically scream and cry and hide under blankets...yet my parents always made me go. :) I'm totally over that and now love myself a good fireworks show! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday celebrating America's birthday and our freedom!

Reese has "Mow Fun" with Daddy :)

2011-07-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

These were just too cute not to post...hee hee...I love that she's mowing in her little denim skirt.

June Happenings...

2011-06-30T20:55:00.001-07:00

** I PROMISE I WILL POST AND UPDATE ABOUT OUR WALK VERY SOON! I'M STILL WORKING ON FINAL NUMBERS AND ORGANIZING PICTURES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!!! I PROMISE...IT'S AWESOME! **

Ok, so now...being the last day of June, I figured it's time to share a little about what we've been up to this month. We started June off with a bang at our Great Strides walk...see above statement...more to come later. But, I will share a picture of our fabulous Team Reese, just as a teaser.

What an awesome day!

We also had the pleasure of celebrating our dear, sweet, friend Ruthie's 2nd birthday! She had a "Princess Party" which fits her perfectly...she's basically obsessed with anything Princess...it's pretty adorable! All the kids dressed up in their best Princess gear and looked so stinkin' cute! Plus, the party was at the park so the kids had a blast playing as well as celebrating Miss Ruthie!

The beautiful birthday girl!

Reese and Ruthie doing their favorite thing..."winging"

Reese and Alexis enjoying the slide!

Weeeee!

Ruthie getting a new Princess dress! Yay! She immediately had to put it on! ;)

Handsome Prince Cooper

The Royal Guests

What says summer fun better than a hometown celebration?!? We had so much fun with the Boehnke's celerating good ol' Tea Pot Days!!! Reese and Taylor loved the parade (and more importantly, the candy!) and also the fun BBQ and live music in the park. I forsee many Tea Pot Days celebrations in our future! I adore small towns!

All ready for the parade

Got a rock in my shoe...

Sweet Taylor enjoying some snacks

My grandparents celebrated their 65 wedding anniversary....oh how I love them and their example of love they have shown me. My grandma's health has started to fail and she has been suffering with the onset of Alzheimers...it's been so difficult to watch and my heart breaks for my grandpa. 65 years together and they are still so in love. With some assistance, Grandma is still doing ok and Grandpa takes such good care of her. I love how they are still able to tease each other and giggle together after all these years. We so enjoyed our day together. It was also Father's Day and Kevin and I took Reese to the park in Emery for a bit...pretty sure the playground equipment is the same as it was when I was little. :)

My grandma and Reese playing with Hilda, my sister and my old cabbage patch doll that my grandma bought for us when we were kids to play with at her house. Of course she kept her in mint condition, so she still looks perfect. Katie and I loved visiting grandma and grandpa and playing with Hilda!

Happy 65 years together...

Playing Mr. Potato Head

Happy Father's Day

Love the park

Seriously, still the same chicken :)

And the same swings...

Some other things we've been doing: Reese took a Toddler Art class at the Washington Pavilion (which I failed to get ANY pictures of...ugh...disgusting), but it was pretty cute! We have lots of art projects we are very proud of! We have also spent some time catching some rays at the pool (again, no pictures...booo) and playing at the park and zoo. We love being outside! And...we've begun the process of potty training. Nothing too serious yet, but hopefully in July we can hit it hard. She seems to be ready, but we shall see. But, I do have a cute picture of her on the potty, reading a magazine.

Hee hee!

Now onto July! Yay...we LOVE summer!

WALK DETAILS!

2011-06-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

I apologize I am so last minute with getting the details of our Great Strides walk out! Only 3 days until the big day! We are looking forward to a gorgeous, sunny day spent with our family and friends and other CF Families and Fighters to raise some BIG TIME research dollars!

The walk is at Spencer Park (it's the same place as the dog park, located right off of Cliff Ave across from Tuthill Park and by I229...can't miss it). Let me know if you need help finding it. The walk starts at 10:00 am and registration starts at 9:00 am. I would highly recommend registering online to walk so you don't have to spend time that day doing it. Here's the link:

http://www.cff.org/great_strides/find_a_walk_site/

I would love to get a Team Reese picture around 9:45 if we can. We will have a canopy tent there as well as many "Team Reesers" running around so you can't miss us. I will also have t-shirts there if you ordered one. I am told there is going to be an option for either a 5K or a 10K walk. However, you can walk as far or as long as you'd like...pretty informal. We just want you to have a good time. There will be a lunch served after the walk along with an announcement of our Grand Total...it's gonna be HUGE! ;)

Thank you so so SOOOOOO much for supporting us. We really truly could not do this without the love and generousity from you. We LOVE you and can't wait to see you Saturday!!!

If you are not able to walk but would still like to make a donation, you can do so here: http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/EmilyPetoske7240

Days

2011-05-17T08:01:00.001-07:00

Most days I am ok. Most days I can carry on with our daily lives with some level of normalcy (as normal as it can be with a 2 year old...ha ha!) although CF is never really that far from my mind. After all, daily doses of enzymes and trying to fanagle a 2 year old into a shaking vest twice a day are firm reminders that we are in fact, fighting to keep our girl healthy. Most days I can do our routine things without much deep thought about CF. At least not the deep thoughts I used to have after Reese was first diagnosed. Now this is our life...this is OUR normal.

But some days are just plain hard. Some days I get sucked into the stories of precious young lives taken far too soon. Some days I go to a resource website or a social media group for a question and I happen to glance at the grim news from another mom of a CFer. Some days I want to scream at the top of my lungs and just BEG God for this to all just go away.

But ALL days, this is our reality and CF is part of our life. So ALL days I thank God for our girl and for the time He gives us with her. ALL days I love her more and more. ALL days I look at her and am so so so proud of her. ALL days I do whatever I can to make sure she stays healthy. ALL days she inspires me. ALL days she is full of sparkle and life.

And ALL days I pray for a cure.

http://www.cff.org/great_strides/emilypetoske7240

A day at the park

2011-05-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

I hate to be a complainer-pants about the weather, but it has pretty much been rotten. Windy, cold, rainy...ugh. But, it feels like we finally may be starting to see a glimpse of spring...so fingers crossed. We were able to get out to the park recently on our ONE nice day in April (just kidding, but honestly it's not too far from the truth). It was such a different experience than our trips to the park last year. Reese is way more independent and is able to do so much more! I'm looking forward to spending MANY days at the park and we are fortunate to live close to several of them! Now all we need is nice weather :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Easter was so much fun this year! Reese totally got into dying and decorating the Easter eggs and for about 3 days afterward, she wanted to just look at them. She would wake up and say, "Easter eggs?" and then we would have to check in on the eggs. LOL.

Reese woke up in Emery on Easter Sunday and got her Easter baskets...yes, she got many baskets this year. Rifling through them helped pass the time during her treatment...and I'm not even sure if she knew she had her shaking vest on! We got a call that my grandparents weren't feeling well and we were planning to spend the day with them so that was a bummer. We still went to Yankton to have Easter brunch and were able to stop by and see them for a little bit so we were grateful for that time with them. We also had our Easter egg hunt there. Reese LOVED it! My favorite picture is the one of her running toward the blue egg...it just makes me happy.

Most importantly, we were so glad to celebrate Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday. Easter Blessings!

Two years old!

2011-04-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

On April 10, our girl turned 2!!!! I'm still adjusting to that...to me she's still just a baby. Well not really, but I suppose she'll always be my baby. We had the pleasure of celebrating our Miss Reese this year on her birthday with a Milk and Cookies party! We had an awesome day with our family and friends! It was so much fun watching all of the kids interacting and playing together...and it's only going to get more fun! Here's a few pictures of Reese's special day!

FUNdraising update.

2011-04-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

It feels like life has been a little bit of a whirlwind lately! I feel like I'm finally getting a chance to relax a little bit...well as much as you can relax with a toddler always on your heels. I wanted to take some time to recap some of the fundraising that's been going on in our world.

On March 29 we had our Tip-A-Stampede night at both Applebees here in town. We ended up raising....insert drumroll....$6,954!!! Wooo Hooo! The Stampede hockey players waited tables and all of the tips collected go to the CF Foundation. Such a cool concept! We have to say a big THANK YOU to Jim Loria and the Stampede and also to Applebees for making this event even possible. Also a huge thank you to our family and friends who worked the event and who came out and supported us by eating there and leaving their generous tips! We are blessed. Period.

Fast forward a few days to April 2. I had the opportunity to go to AZ to visit my dear friend Shannon and her family and also partake in an amazing fundraiser for CF! My cherished CF mommy friend Rachel and her husband Jeremy had their annual teamASHER silent auction fundraiser and raised over $16,000!!! I'm still in awe! Rach worked so hard on this event and it was nothing less than spectacular! It was such an privledge to be able to be there and not only watch the bids keep going higher and higher, but to just see the incredible, sincere support and love that surrounds this family. Truly inspiring. And not only was an insane amount of money raised, but their sweet boy in Heaven, Paxon, was honored through all of it. Here's a pix of Rachel and I enjoying the GORGEOUS sunny day! Love you friend!

Here is Shanny and I enjoying the festivities and gettin' our bid on!

Now fast forward again to April 9. We had our CF Night at the Stampede hockey game fundraiser. We ended up raising a total of $1,705 with this event. We pre-sold tickets and a portion of ticket sales, plus all of the "chuck-a-puck" money goes to the CF Foundation. It was such a fun night out with friends and family and the Stampede won! Again, we have to say a huge thank you to Jim Loria and the Stampede and our friends and family who helped us work the event and who came out to support us. We are so grateful to have such an awesome team of warriors fighting with us. We love you all and you are part of our miracle! Unfortunately Reese missed the game because we decided to leave her home as she was just not herself the afternoon of the game. Since her birthday was the next day, we didn't want to risk her getting sick or run-down from all the excitement. Luckily she got to stay home with Grandma and they had a blast together.

Here's a pic of my friend Emily and I at the game wearing our new Stampede hats :) Thanks Em!

Another event that I just have to mention because it's so darn sweet and just downright cute, is a little lemonade stand my friend Sam and her 3 boys had in their neighborhood. It started out as kind of a "pay it forward" assignment in their church and they were given money to use to help someone. How humbling that they chose to help OUR someone. They raised $129 for Team Reese and I'm just so inspired their sweet spirits. Thank you Miller's! We love you!

Whew...so, the march continues and Great Strides is just around the corner. We are continuing our fundraising efforts and our quest for a cure. If you'd like to donate, here's the link:
http://www.cff.org/great_strides/emilypetoske7240

Also, I cannot forget about the BIG EVENT...Reese's 2nd birthday! That's my next post, so stay tuned.

Newsworthy

2011-04-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

We made the news!

KELOLAND.com | Promising Cystic Fibrosis Research

Under the Weather

2011-03-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, miss Reese spiked a pretty good fever, which always scares me. She was acting pretty clingy and lethargic and spent most of the day either in my lap or on the couch. I just had to catch these pictures of our little "sicky pants" looking like such a big girl with all of her supplies: blankie, Barney and juice. Thankfully, she was able to fight it off and by Saturday night/Sunday morning, she was feeling better! Not sure what that was about but there is so much junk going around now so maybe she caught a little bug. Well, early in the week we noticed Reese was coughing quite a bit and by Thursday I decided to call the clinic as her cough had increased and was super productive. Her doctor decided to put her on an antibiotic (after 6 months of being antibiotic free!!!) so we will pray that will help kick it! Although she acts fine and if she didn't have a cough and runny nose, you wouldn't think anything was wrong, every time she coughs, I just cringe. Soooo, move along bug...

It's time!!!!

2011-03-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Whew!!! It feels like we just wrapped up 2010, but believe it or not, it's time to kick our fundraising efforts into high gear! The Great Strides walk is less than 3 months away and we have lots and lots and LOTS to do! So.....here's what's shakin' for TEAM REESE:

TIP A STAMPEDE NIGHT AT APPLEBEES!
(Tuesday, March 29, 5-8pm)

We are so grateful to again be partnering with the Sioux Falls Stampede for a couple of fundraising events. They have been so generous to us and have helped us raise some pretty serious research dollars!

Come on out to either Sioux Falls Applebees locations to eat on TUESDAY, MARCH 29 from 5-8pm. The Sioux Falls Stampede players will be waiting tables and all of the tips collected will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! How cool is that?!? Plus, there will be five prizes for the top tippers to compete for and a brand new (authentic) Stampede Jersey for the person that is the HIGHEST TIPPER of more than $500 in tips!!! Last year we raised about $6,000 from this event! Let's do it again!!!

CF NIGHT AT THE STAMPEDE
(Friday, April 8, 7:05 pm)

Come out for a night of fun to support a wonderful cause. Proceeds from ticket sales from the April 8 game against the Sioux City Musketeers will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. BUT, in order to make that happen, you need to fill the form at this link
http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/Chapters/minnesota/Spotlight/Hockey%20Spotlight-2011.pdf
and send or email or fax it into the Stampede office in order for the CFF to get credit. Be sure to write Team Reese on the bottom of the form. It will be a fun fun night, so hopefully you can join us!

GREAT STRIDES WALK!
(Saturday, June 4, registration starts at 9:00, walk starts at 10:00)

We would love love LOVE for you to come out and join us! We had an exceptional turnout and broke some serious records last year and we are hoping to do it again this year!!! We have so much hope! But, we still need money to buy science and we would be honored for you to join us as we try to raise as much money as we can so that Reese and all of the other people living with CF breathe easier! Click below if you would like to register to walk.
https://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_GSContactInformation.cfm?walkID=7240&idTeam=138663&regtype=teammember

If you aren't able to walk but would still like to make a donation, click here! http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/EmilyPetoske7240
We never turn away donations and we are grateful for EVERY SINGLE PENNY!!! No amount is too small! THANK YOU!

Let's do this! Let's make 2011 another record-setting year and hopefully get us that much closer to a cure! Thank you!

hope.

2011-02-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

Last week was a BIG week in the Cystic Fibrosis community! If you have EVER given one dollar to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation this is what it’s all about. The CURE is near!! Here is the thing, there are different mutations and this drug (VX770) that has the CF community buzzing is aimed at the G551D mutation. Reese does not have this one BUT it is half of the puzzle! This drug used with another on (VX809) they believe is going to fix the underlying defect in 95% of CFers!!! Reese is one of them. The thought that she could be living a more "normal" life in the near future is enough to bring me to tears.

The following information, I got from one of my dearest CF momma friends Sarah's blog. I figured instead of trying to put it into my own words, I would just use the information she shared on her blog (with her permission, of course) as it is stated so clearly and heck, why reinvent the wheel, right?! The information is from an email that she received from another CF mom who sat in on a national conference call regarding this monumental news. All I can say is we have so much hope...

Here is what the mother on the conference call with the CFF shared.

“Phew! What a terrific conference call! SO MUCH INFO! Here’s a recap:The VX-770 trial is now considered a “home-run” for ALL CF PATIENTS! It was done for 48 weeks and patients maintained improvement the ENTIRE TIME (which has never happened in any other study EVER). They targeted G551D patients (all but 1 patient had only 1 copy of it). The reason they selected G551D patients is because the basic defect with them is that their CFTR membrane just needed to be opened, which the 770 does. (They likened it to having a salt shaker that’s clogged and salt can’t come out- the 770 pokes holes in the shaker and the salt can freely come out.) The results of the trial showed 10%-20% improvement in lung function in just 2-4 weeks using the “blue pill”! This improvement was sustained for the entire 48 week trial! The 10-20% is amazing, considering our other awesome drugs such as Pulmozyme, TOBI, and Cayston have showed 3-8% improvement (which we thought was wonderful!). Patients have reported feeling better, breathing easier, and an average of 7 pounds weight gain (compared to less than 1 pound for placebo patients). The pill seems to improve lung function, liver function, and intestinal process since it treats THE BASIC DEFECT OF THE CFTR, not just symptoms as we have been treating. Sweat Chloride levels dropped from avg 100 down to 53 (which 40-60 is Borderline for CF). Hospital stays and need for antibiotics were reduced by 50%! They mentioned that this isn’t the “cure” we are waiting for, but it does dramatically change the game. In a 5-10 year period of time, CF’ers lose about 10% of lung function. This turns back the clock and helps lessen decrease lung function damage, which prolongs their life significantly. It’s too early to say if it will prevent FEV1 decline, but it will certainly cut it by 50-75% hopefully. The drug is being submitted for approval and “fast tracked” so we will hopefully be approved in 6 months. They want to get it to anyone that needs it. Clinical trial patients who were using the Open Label will continue to be on it by signing on to another clinical trial extension. They are also hoping to get all FEV1 patients (less than 40% lung function) with G551D signed on for a clinical trial to use it until it is formally approved. No idea about costs for patients at this time, but they continually said every patient will have access to it. No definitive answers about enzyme adjustments, physio, airway clearance, etc. These all treat SYMPTOMS, which should still be treated, since this pill treats the actual defect. But the need and amount of treatments may decrease. The drug won’t fix scarring already done, but will help stop potential scarring by slowing the rate of decline. They reiterated that a lot of work still needs to be done, and that we are “in the 7th inning of the World Series and just scored a home-run. But the game isn’t over.” This G551D population is 4% of all CF patients. They are continuing to work relentlessly to capture the 96% of other patients who still need help. Dr. Beall said “We shall not rest until our work for everyone is done.” Since this is getting so long, I’m going to comment below this with other tidbits that I heard about, including what this means for DDF508/ nonsense mutations/ and 809 combinations.
They cautioned us to NOT WRITE to FDA to try to get faster approval. They don’t want to barge or coerce FDA, or annoy them. If you want to write a letter, write to your congressmen and ask them to support the FDA by keeping them funded and staffed, increase their budget, and ask them to support faster reviews for ALL drugs, not just ours!
Next, the 770 doesn’t work as well on DDF508 patients, since there’s not enough protein in the membrane to work on. It’s a whole different “fruit” and not able to be compared, other than it did lower sweat chloride levels from 100 to 95 or so. Still not significant, which is why they are now trying 770 with 809.
2 drugs combined is much more difficult to research and “prove” with FDA. Vertex has hired an additional 200 staff to continue research with the combo and packaging the new drug that will be ready for G551D’s. The reason this trial was so successful was due to the tremendous funding and donations that come in from YOU and others- Bill Gates Foundation donated 20 million for it. CFF used 65 million additionally just for this trial.
CFF Board has now earmarked 160 million for “backup” correctors, just in case 809 isn’t the answer. They are expecting the 770/809 trial to have to repeat Phase 2, since there weren’t as big of lung changes as they hoped for.
For other “nonsense” mutations/ “X” mutations where patients are pancreatic sufficient, this 770 is very promising!
Another AWESOME thing the CFF is doing, is a project called CFTR II. They have taken the top 150 disease causing mutations (there are over 1600 CF mutations, but the top 150 make up 95% of all CF population) and they’ve created them in their labs. They are injecting 770 into them and will be watching the outcomes, so then we will know EXACTLY which mutations this will benefit!
No major reactions from patients on the 770, other than a small rash for some, but nothing significant.
For the 770/809 combo, look for 2015-2016 for a possible approval, providing the repeat Phase 2 goes well.
This 770 looks really good for newborns/ infants who are diagnosed with a G551D mutation (or possibly another “nonsense” mutation) and haven’t had lung damage done yet and haven’t started major treatments. Most promising for them since it helps lessen damage and extend the timeline of damage occurring .
They also brought up the PTC 124 trial on X mutations. Enrollment finished in December and the trial also lasts a year. They are VERY OPTIMISTIC and hoping to be celebrating at this time next year for that drug
No data on the effects of 770 on Pseudomonas, other than the hope is that since CFTR function is restored properly, your body will wash it out of the lungs faster and hopefully prevent further colonization. But probably won’t completely eradicate it.
They want everyone to continue participating in clinical trials, including those trials that treat symptoms only. We can’t put all our eggs in one basket and assume that this is it. There could very well be another better drug out there. Beall said “We’re not out of this yet. We still need more shots on goal.” Yes, he is a sports nut. Baseball, Hockey references everywhere! :):)
Phew. I think I got it all. I tried to listen with a sleeping baby next to me and my 2 toddlers wreaking havoc all over my house, so hope I answered everything. OH!! They did list a number for all of you to call with individual questions! They have staffed it with an awesome group who is dedicated to getting your questions answered. The number is 1800-FightCF. You also can submit your questions to ask@cff.org
Oh, and they did reiterate…. TODAY IS A FANTASTIC DAY FOR ALL THE CF COMMUNITY! Biggest breakthrough since discovering the CF gene mutation. ”

Rest assured friends, your donations are making a REAL difference in people’s and family’s lives! We are so excited to see what the future holds for our little Reese and all of the other people living with CF. Our job now is just to keep her healthy until we get our hands on these. Lung damage is irreversible. Our cure is coming!!

As the Latin quote says, "Dum spiro, spero," "While I breathe, I hope."

Lovin' Life

2011-02-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

...Life cereal, that is :)

But, we are also lovin' life in general as well. Lots of action is starting to take place as we are gearing up for a few different fundraisers and our Great Strides Walk and also a certain little missy's 2nd birthday!!!! I will update you about all of that soon, I promise!

On another note, winter is getting soooooooooo old around here! It seems like every other day we are getting more snow. GRRRRR! Don't get me wrong, I usually am not so pessimistic about winter, because there are parts of it I really do love, but with an active little toddler, it's very difficult to spend our days indoors because of frigid temps. We have been getting out a bit going to storytime and hitting up playdates, but I think it's safe to say that everyone around here is more than ready for Spring. Bring on the sunshine and warmer temps!!!

My Sweetheart

2011-02-17T11:06:00.001-08:00

My little Valentine sweetheart.

FYI...this was pretty much the only picture where she was looking at the camera.

Flashback Friday

2011-02-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

My sweet chubber-cheeked little Valentine last year. Oh how I heart her.

Wordless (or not so wordless) Wednesday

2011-02-02T07:10:00.000-08:00

This picture really just deserved some words...this is our darling daughter helping take down our Christmas tree...with my...ahem...undergarment around her neck! I obviously didn't place the aforementioned item in its proper place and Reese got her hands on it and thought it would be a fun necklace to wear around the house...which she proceeded to do for a good portion of the morning. Oh dear. That girl is tooooooooo funny!!!!

PS...notice I have posted 3days in a row?!?! Record breaking material for me!

PPS...the schools are closed here in our city today due to FRIGID temps...that NEVER happens!!!! BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Baby It's COLD Outside!!!

2011-02-01T06:12:00.000-08:00

Let me just start off by saying that tonight, the air temp here is supposed to be -30...that's right, you read right...NEGATIVE 30 DEGREES! Then add on the windchill and it could get as low as NEGATIVE 50 DEGREES! Plus, we just got about 6 more inches of snow dumped on us! Geesh...we need to move! I am sooooooo over winter right now! Anyway, because it's been so darn cold, Reese and I have been catching some MAJOR cabin fever. We needed to get OUT OF THE HOUSE so decided to hit up the Kirby Science Center at the Washington Pavilion recently. Our friends Emily and Ruthie gave us a pass there for Christmas and so we thought it would be fun to take the girls on an outing. Now, if you know me well, you know I'm a bit of a germ-a-phob and have been pretty reluctant to take Reese out too much due to the nasty cold and flu season, but quite frankly, we needed a change of scenery! Luckily it wasn't too busy and the girls were able to kind of run and explore without having to fight through a crowd of kids. I think both Reese and Ruthie loved it and I'm excited to go back!

The hot air balloon was Reese's favorite part. She's obsessed with balloons. Hey, who isn't really? :)

Christmas Fun...part 2

2011-01-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know I'm seriously pathetic...it's the end of January and I'm finally getting to the rest of our Christmas pictures. But, in my defense we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family late so technically, I'm not thaaaaaat tardy. :) We had a great time with the fam and got a very super, fun, awesome, fabulous, very amazing surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you can't read it, her shirt says "Cousin Reese"!!!!!!!

My sister Katie and her husband Ross are having a baby!!!!! We are sooooooooooo excited!!! (As you can tell, Reese looks thrilled in this picture). They were very sneaky about telling all of us too. Katie snuck off with Reese and slipped this little t-shirt on Reese in the bedroom and sent Reese out to show all of us. It took my dad awhile to catch on, which was hilarious, but we are all looking forward to Baby Petrick!

Such a wild woman

One of Reese's new favorite games..."Airplane." And for the record...mommy gives the BEST airplane rides. Reese always says, "Again, again!"

Yes, that very large present IS FOR YOU, Miss Reese

Yay! A Barney and an Elmo DVD! Perfect for treatment time!

She looks very concerned about one of her gifts here. She got spoiled, so there was noooooo need to be concerned.

Christmas Fun...part 1

2011-01-12T20:46:00.001-08:00

Finally, here are a few pictures of our Christmas adventure in Midland with the Petoske family! We had an awesome Christmas and the little one was not one bit spoiled at all. Ha ha. Yeah right.

Reese riding on Gerry the Giraffe...this was Kevin and his siblings' toy/toybox when they were kids. Reese and her cousin Alexis had a lot of fun with ol' Gerry. Reese still talks about him..."Where Gerry go?"

Christmas Eve night, posing by the tree in her gold sparkly dress.

On Christmas morning Reese and Alexis woke up to SLEDS! Yay!

Goofing around with daddy...oh boy.

SHE LOVES THE SLED!!!! I can't wait for it to get ABOVE 0 degrees so we can go sledding!

Weeeeeeee......

Miss Reese doing her treatment at Grandma and Grandpa's...she loved watching Elmo on the laptop!

Baby Paxon

2011-01-04T20:57:00.001-08:00

Baby Paxon Ray Olimb went to the loving arms of Our Father today after just a short 11 days here on this side of Heaven. This boy touched so many lives and I have no doubt that he will continue to touch lives through his story and his incredible family. Rachel, Jeremy and Asher...we love you and are praying for you.

http://www.asherolimb.com/blog/?p=1383

From Our Family to Yours...

2010-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will post pictures of our Christmas adventures as soon as I can.

I also have a prayer request. My dear friend Rachel, her husband Jeremy and her little newborn baby Paxon need our prayers. Paxon was born on Christmas day and came into this world like a champ, giving them much hope and encouragement. Since then, Paxon has had some serious further challenges and they really just need to be lifted up before the throne of our Greatest Physician. Their story and this sweet lil' boy have been touching so many lives. You can follow along at asherolimb.com God Bless and thank you!

Merry Wishes!

Aware...

2010-12-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

I came across this video today on facebook and thought it was a pretty powerful video not only to create some awareness about our daily lives and routines, but also to remind everyone (without me always being a hand sanitizer nazi...ha!) that this is a tough time of year for many during the cold and flu season and if there is any extra precaution we can take to keep Reese healthy, we will do it. Of course we want everything to be "normal" (which by the way, what does "normal" mean????) for Reese and we are fully aware that OUR attitudes will affect HER attitude about CF but the fact is she has CF so there are some things that are "different" for us. So hand sanitizer it is... :)

Do Not Forget...

2010-11-29T11:51:00.001-08:00

Love love love this time of year! I always have. There is so much joy, wonder, and just all-around jolliness...well most of the time, anyway. From the Christmas songs on the radio, to the stores bustling and sparkling with festive decor and don't forget the Hallmark Christmas movies, Christmastime just makes me downright happy! But for some at this time of year, it is almost unbearable. During this time of family and togetherness, some are haunted by lonliness and unimaginable heartbreak. I was reminded of this by reading a fellow CF mom's blog (you may remember me talking about Sarah who lost her 7 year old son Conner to CF earlier this year) that this can be the most painful time of the year. http://notsobrightandshiny.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-most-wonderful-time-of-year.html
I mention this because this post made me stop and really just think about the people I pass as I go along my daily business as I'm gaily humming "The Little Drummer Boy". Who among those people are included in this category? Ever since I read Sarah's sweet words I have thought about how I can reach out to them. I know there is no magical answer but I think praying for them, and offering up simple acts of love and kindness like making someone smile, offering a helping hand, being patient and kind, and just stepping outside of myself to see their hurting heart could be a start. So while we have been decking the halls and singing jolly Christmas tunes, trying to create wonderful memories for Reese, I will not forget those who long for the touch of their loved ones, and I hope you won't forget either. As Sarah states, "All I ask I guess is this Holly Jolly Christmas Season take a moment to touch someones life. Greatly. More than buying a present…TAKE TIME TO REACH OUT AND TOUCH THEIR HURTING SOUL…so many people are walking zombies of pain…and truly there is no feeling like it in the world…"

So, with that being said, as I mentioned, we have been busy decking the halls and enjoying getting in the Christmas spirit. Reese is loving it! She is in awe of the pretty lights and recognizes Santa, or "Sana" as she calls him. These things are all great, but let's also not forget the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Here are a few pictures of us putting up the tree!

Notice in this picture Reese has on a different shirt. Yeah, the Hallmark Christmas moment I was hoping to have with the hot chocolate didn't work out as I had envisioned. Reese took one drink of her "warm" chocolate and spit it out all over her shirt. Oh well...we still had fun!

Thanksgiving.

2010-11-23T20:15:00.000-08:00

As we approach one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving, it's only natural for me to take some time to reflect on the things I am thankful for. I will be honest...while I thought I felt thankful last year at this time, I don't think I really had the deep thankfulness and joy I feel this year. Just to mention a few things I am thankful for...
*I am thankful for our loving Father, who shows me His love and mercy every single day.
*I am thankful for my amazing husband, who would do anything for me and Reese and always makes me laugh.
*I am thankful for our perfectly darling daughter, who lights up my life in a way I never knew possible.
*I am thankful for my family. We love all of you and when I say we could not do it without you, I whole-heartedly mean that.
*I am thankful for the advances there have been in medicine and our care team. Because of these advances and our awesome care team, Reese is healthy and able to live a "normal" life!
*I am thankful for my friends. I truly could not have ask for better friends and love and appreciate each one of you.
*I am thankful for all of the CF mommies I have been able to connect with. Ladies...you are sometimes the only reason I don't have a nervous breakdown or go completely insane! It's such a blessing to be included in the network of friends I have found in these fabulous moms.
*I am thankful for all of the BEYOND BELIEVABLE support we had for Team Reese this year. What an honor to have so many in our corner.
Ok...it's starting to sound like I'm making a speech at the Academy Awards so I will stop there but I just wanted to touch on some of the most important things I am thankful for...although rest assured, the list is plentiful!

Along the lines of CF mommies...in the beginning of November I was able to go on a mini-vacation to Mesa, AZ to visit my closest longtime friend from my childhood, Shannon, and I had the opportunity to meet in person one of my most cherished CF mom's, Rachel. I met Rachel through Shannon when Reese was first diagnosed. I have mentioned her on this blog before and I just hold such a special place in my heart for her and love her to pieces. Her little guy Asher, who is 3, also has CF. We had so much fun together and it was such a joy to spend time with Shannon and her family as well.

My forever friend, Rachel!

Shanny, Rachel and me

A toast to friendship! Love you, Shannon!

The view from the top of Camelback Mountain...STUNNING!

Tough girls...some things never change.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010...I hope you all find much to be thankful for!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

tRiCk - Or- TrEaT!

Halloween 2010...fun, fun, fun! We went to Emery to help my mom and dad move back into their house (after a 3 month rennovation) so we decided we would just stay and go trick-or-treating there. We only hit up a few houses but it was so fun to watch Reese toddle around in her little Tigger costume. Last year she was too little to really know what was going on, so this year was much more fun as she totally dug the concept of knocking on someone's door dressed up as Tigger and in return, getting gobs and gobs of candy. Hey, smart kid! I'm sad I didn't get more pictures of her, but let's just say she wasn't feeling in the mood to pose for picture...she had things to do! Hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween!

18 month old cutie!

2010-10-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

All I can say is I love this girl...she makes my days. One of my fellow CF momma's (Sarah) said it so beautifully ~ "Every hope, dream, and ounce of love in my heart somehow manages to fit in that little spunky body." ♥

Fall Friday

2010-10-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

No flashback today...and no picture even. It's a gorgeous fall day here so Reese and I are going out to take advantage of it! From the looks of the forecast, this may be the last nice fall day we see for awhile...soooooo see ya! We're going OUTSIDE! Happy Friday!

JUST TOO CUTE!

2010-10-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

This video just cracks me up...literally makes me belly laugh. Kevin shot this of Reese while she was "talking" on the phone. Keep in mind Kevin absolutely HATES it when the rest of my family and I "yawn talk." And we all do it...poor guy. While our darling daughter may look like her father, she definitely picked up her mad "yawn talking" skills from me. Too cute!!!

Flashback Friday

2010-10-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

I missed my "Wordless Wednesday" post so I'm going to shake it up a bit with a "Flashback Friday". Here's a flashback from 1 year ago....awww.

THE VEST

2010-10-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

Aaah, the vest...the vest...the long awaited vest. I know I am an emotional person, so I kind of suspected I would maybe feel a little emotional over Reese getting the vest, even though it has been something we have been soooooo looking forward to. The vest came on Tuesday, but today is the first day she used it as we had to wait for a RT to help us set it up. It's hard to even put into words. The vest is just so much more than a vest...it represents everything about CF. I KNOW it will make our lives a whole lot easier, but honestly, it just made me sad thinking that this will be a part of her life forever now. She will have to do this every single day (that is if she isn't rebellious :)) for the rest of her life. And it's just not natural...to see her little body shaking like that just made my heart hurt...knowing WHY she is doing this and the reason she HAS to do it. However, that being said, THIS is OUR normal so we are just so GRATEFUL for such an invention to help keep our Miss Reese healthy and have a good quality of life!!!

Reese really did so well with her new vest!!! This morning when the RT was here, she cried some just because she didn't know what the heck was happening. After about a minute into the treatment, she started to get used to it and did well the rest of the 30 minutes. Tonight when I went to get the vest out, she said, "no, no no" but then did fine once she got it on and started shaking. She even sat in her own little chair for the last half of it. I think the hardest part is going to be getting her to sit STILL for 30 minutes 2x/a day. We're definitely going to beef up our DVD collection!!! :)

Now being the scrapbooker that I am, I just need to get some fun embellishments to jazz up her machine that her vest hooks up to. Maybe some blingy bling!!!! Every girl needs a little bling, right?!?

Reese, you rock. Every day you make us so proud of you. You are our hero and the Lord has blessed you with an incredibly strong and beautiful spirit. I am so thankful to be your mommy and love watching and being a part of every new milestone you reach. I love you, love you, love you sweet darling! Kisses, Mommy

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T06:51:00.001-07:00

Lil' Pumpkins

2010-10-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our recent trip to the Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch with our friends Tami and Taylor! The girls were a bit too little to get involved with all of the activites but the Harvest Fest atmosphere, some yummy food, a place to run, and a few good pictures were all we needed. This trip will for sure be an annual fall event! Happy fall to all!

Reese lovin' the pumpkins

I think Taylor's first trip to the Apple Orchard was a success

Aahhhh, the fall fun is abounding

My little pumpkin :)

Woah, this is heavy!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-29T08:23:00.001-07:00

Mirror Mirror...

2010-09-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

I love small towns...and I especially love them in the fall! I love the change in the air, the crisp cool mornings, hometown football and HOMECOMING! Reese and I recently had the pleasure of accompanying our friends Emily and Ruthie to Emily's hometown homecoming parade. Emily's parents had a float and asked if we would want to ride on it with Emily and Ruthie. I knew Reese would get a kick out of it so we loaded up the car and headed to Centerville to ride in the parade. The theme was "All Things Disney" so their float said "Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the greatest team of all?" Cute and catchy and if I do say so myself, we had the two cutest Snow Whites ever!!!! What a fun experience and such a great way to spend a beautiful, warm, fall, hometown day!

Emily with our two Snow Whites

We dressed up as witches to accompany the little Snow Whites

The girls got into the parade candy...oops

The girls with Emily's parents

Two tired turtles reading their books on the way home

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-22T17:06:00.001-07:00

mmmmmmm.....

Kindermusik FUN!

2010-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

We have embarked on a fun little adventure called KINDERMUSIK! It's a great little music/activity class that allows Reese to be exposed to some music and musical instruments, engage in some learning in a "class" setting, and be social with other children. Since I stay home with her, we try as much as we can to make it possible for her to have opportunities to get together with other children. We participated in the summer session and now are just starting up the fall session. I totally enjoy it just as much as she does and love taking the songs we learn and incorporating them into our daily lives. She LOVES it and so relishes the time she gets to spend with other kids her own age...including her buddy Ruthie!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T05:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I need to get crackin writing some other posts other than "Wordless Wednesday" but for now, here is our Wordless Wedenday pic...WE LOVE BUBBLES!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-08T20:24:00.001-07:00

Pray for Paxon

2010-09-04T21:54:00.001-07:00

I have been so blessed by the friendship of someone I have never even met...in person anyway. Rachel and I became friends through my lifelong dear friend, Shannon. Shannon married Rachel's husband's (Jeremy) cousin (Mark). Rachel and Jeremy have a soon to be 3 years old little boy, named Asher. Asher has Cystic Fibrosis. Immediately I felt connected to Rachel and have been so often touched by her kind, loving words of encouragement, her compassionate, caring, Christ-filled spirit, and her ever-giving love. Like I said...I haven't even met her in person, but that doesn't matter...I just love her and she always just gets it. A few months ago, Rachel and her husband Jeremy rejoiced over the happy news of expecting another baby. However, recently, their worlds were turned upside down AGAIN after learning that their unborn baby boy, Paxon, has a deletion of the 4th chromosome. I am not equipped to even go into everything that means, but I will just say it is hearbreaking and I just ask that you pray for them and their family and their sweet baby Paxon. To keep updated on Paxon and their family, visit http://www.asherolimb.com/. Love you friend...the Petoske's are praying.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T12:28:00.001-07:00

Miss Taylor Grace

2010-08-31T15:11:00.001-07:00

My best friend Tami and her husband Andy welcomed this perfect lil' beauty into the world on August 20! Meet Taylor Grace!

We couldn't be happier for them and love little miss Taylor (and her darling teeny tiny toes) already so so much.

Her momma is glowing...

...and her daddy is smitten.

So incredibly proud of you, best friend.

Yay for baby girls!

CF Update

2010-08-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've been on here so I thought I'd give a quick update on the CF news around here. We are officially OFF of antibiotics after being on for 27 days straight!!! Reese started what we thought was a summer cold and was really "junky" up in her sinuses so her doctor put her on an antibiotic. Thankfully she had her regular CF checkup shortly after that because the antibiotic wasn't helping at all and when she's had a little junkiness in her sinuses in the past, the antibiotic had cleared it right up. Well she ended up culturing a strain of strep that was resistant to that certain antibiotic (I was assured it was not HER being resistant, but rather the strain of strep) so we were put on another antibiotic for 10 days...fast forward 10 days...clearing up but not totally gone so another antibiotic for 10 more days. This morning was her LAST DOSE and she sounds GREAT!!!!! Hopefully our supply of diapers will last a little longer now and we won't be running to Walgreens every other day for more diaper rash cream :) When she was put on her second round of antibiotics we also started her on Culturelle (probiotics) and I think that made a difference in her diapers as well. TMI??? Sorry...you other CF momma's will understand. Anyway, she is doing great and hopefully we are in the clear for awhile. I have to admit I was having some anxiety as she was in the hospital exactly a year ago and I feared that if it didn't clear up, that's where we would be headed. PRAYING SHE STAYS HEALTHY!!! Good news though...she remains in the 97th percent for height and weight which we are so thrilled about! A little old lady even told me the other day I might have to consider putting her on an exercise program...oh if she only knew. Well, that's about it for us CF-wise. Here are some pix of her in the hospital last year...my little babe...so sweet and strong. Your are our hero Reese Lane. We love you to the moon and back. XOXO

IV in her arm...

Now in her head...

What a trooper!

We love you Reese.

A Day at the Lake

2010-07-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ahhh the lake. Nothing says summer like a day at the lake! I have been so hesitant to take Reese to the lake for fear of her catching some nasty bacteria, but I do also know she has to be a kid. I, of course, did a little research and chatted with a few of my fellow CF mommies and our nurse, and ultimately decided it was ok to take her. I made sure to be very careful she didn't get her mouth in the water and cleaned her up good when she got out. These are just things we have to think about every day and most people don't give them a second thought. I'm positive I will always worry...that's just what mom's do, but I'm so grateful we spent the day at the lake with our friends Emily and Ruthie and Auntie April and cousin Alexis! The pictures say it all!!!

TEAM REESE TOTAL

2010-06-28T18:05:00.001-07:00

I have butterflies in my tummy as I write this. Our grand total (as of today) for Team Reese is $25,590!!!!! Unbelievable. Thank you seems like such a small thing to say, but with all of my heart, THANK YOU! On behalf of Team Reese, we love you...thank you for supporting us and helping us fight today so Reese can have her tomorrow. God bless.

The 4 faces...

2010-06-27T07:26:00.001-07:00

In May, we took our first "official" family vacation to Rapid City and Spearfish. One of Kevin's friends from high school was getting married in Spearfish and it happened to fall on the weekend of the Great Strides walk in Rapid City so we decided to make a little family vacation out of it. Although we didn't have time to get too "touristy", we did make it to the one and only Mt. Rushmore...one of my favorite places to visit. We're hoping to make it back out there again sometime this summer and take in more of the Black Hills. Even though our trip was short, we had a so much fun...and Reese actually did great during our 6 hour drive. Here are some of our memories from Mt. Rushmore.

Daddy and Reese posin' for a classic tourist picture

Reese in awe of the 4 faces

Our "family" picture....grrr. Another tourist took this for us and cut Reese out of it.

Miss Hollywood

Mmmmm, the ice cream was the best part

How many pairs of sunglasses does one girl need?

2010-06-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

AS MANY AS POSSIBLE :)

Superstar

Even though Uncle Ross thinks Aunt Katie's sunglasses should get their own zipcode they are so big, I love them!

I look so cool with these shades from Auntie Amy and Jordan.

Oh boy...Aunt Lori has some great sunglasses. Can't wait to try them all on!

Alexis, here, you should put these on so you can look cool too. Let me help... :)

Pool time

2010-06-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

Our pool is open! We love our pool time in the little pool in our backyard. There are also some other fun little pools around town, but when we don't feel like packing up and heading out, we like to catch some fun in the sun right here!

Great Strides Walk ~ Part 2~ Sioux Falls

2010-06-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Since we live in Sioux Falls and it is the biggest city in our state, we obviously had a bigger crowd at the SF walk and more teammates for Team Reese. The Sioux Falls walk raised $125,000!!! I don't have the final official numbers from Team Reese yet, but I can tell you that IT IS INCREDIBLE!!!! God is so good...and to Him alone be the glory. We are so loved and we do not take that for granted! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

****SIOUX FALLS WALK****

Our sweet tent

Reese and Momma

A Reese sandwich with Mommy and Aunt Katie

Miss Reese~Our Team Leader

Our friends Ken and Rylee on Team Roses for Rylee

Turning in more MONEY with my friends Lindsey and Nicole (Rylee's momma)

Let the walk begin

FUN FUN!

Brooke and Nolan, Susan, Emily and Ruthie and us

Reese and her uncle Kory and cousin Alexis

Team Reese...what an amazing crew! I tried to count and I think there were about 50 people there on our team!!!

Walk total...$125,000 closer to a CURE!

Our "Red for Conner" sign...a sweet little boy, Conner, earned his angel wings on 6-25-10 at just 7 years old. His favorite color was red so many teams nationwide showed their support to him and his family by taking a picture with their red. Breathe easy sweet boy.

Great Strides Walk ~ Part 1~ Rapid City

2010-06-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Go figure, I'm very behind on blogging. Here are some pictures from our Great Strides Walk in Rapid City. We were lucky enough to participate in both the Rapid City walk and the Sioux Falls walk. The Rapid City walk raised $58,000!!! We had a team of 14 there and we had a blast! Thank you for coming out to support us!!!!

****RAPID CITY WALK****

Our Family

Our friends Jesse, Amanda and Berkley Block

My cousin Kim Kennedy and her husband Heath and cute daugthers Kate and Grace

Reese and Berkley releasing the balloons

Team Reese in Rapid City

Last picture in the Big Blue Chair

2010-05-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

Reese's 12 month picture...now I just can't wait to scrap all of them :)

Storytime

2010-05-18T19:57:00.001-07:00

We are trying to take advantage of the many fun summer activites our community has to offer. Storytime at the library is one of them :) Love storytime and from the looks of it, Reese and her buddies Ruthie and Nolan did too! These pictures are during the "playtime" portion of storytime. All around good times!

Vintage Petoske

2010-05-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

This little shirt is Kevin's when he was just a little guy...well we thought it was Kevin's anyway. Kevin is a twin and while we were looking through some old pictures, we discovered that Kevin actually got the blue version of this shirt and the red shirt is his brother Kory's. Ooops...oh well. Reese still looks pretty darn cute in this old vintage shirt...and I'm sure Alexis will look darling in the blue one :) Oh, and doesn't she look good with a basketball in her hands?!?

Stinky Sock :)

2010-05-17T05:18:00.000-07:00

Recently when my mom was visiting, she was playing this game with Reese and holding Reese's sock up to her face saying, "Pewwwwy, stinky sock," and for some reason Reese thought this was hilarious! These pictures just make me happy. I love hearing her laugh!

1st Birthday Pix...finally!!!!

2010-05-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pix from Reese's 1st birthday party! I am so lucky that I had 2 great friends taking pictures for me so I didn't have to worry about getting the perfect shots :) There are more, but here's just a sneak peek! Enjoy!

The Birthday Princess!

My family

Reese gettin involved with her cake!

Sweet smiles

Reese peeking between my sister's skinny little legs :)

Peek-a-boo

Reese cheesin out for the camera

Kevin, Derrick, Kory and Jesse

Mommy and Reese

"Happy Birthday to you!"

April and Alexis, Me and Reese and Emily and Ruthie

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet Girl!

2010-04-10T16:05:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Reese Lane...Happy Birthday to you! I love you Reese and thank God every day for you. More details/pics from our fun day and birthday party to come.... :)

Remembering...

2010-04-09T18:46:00.001-07:00

Remembering my best friend's 4 sweet, precious angels in heaven today...happy 1st 'heavenly' birthday Brayden, Avery, Austin and Brock. You are so missed and so loved...

Dr. Appointment Update

2010-04-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

We are fast approaching Reese's 1st Birthday...2 more sleeps to be exact! I still cannot believe it. Reese was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis on April 20, only 10 days after she was born. I am feeling a bit anxious as the diagnosis day approaches and many feelings have been creeping up on me. A lot has to do with a year of her life passing by with there still being no cure. CF is a progressive disease, so each day that passes with no cure is a bit frightening. But, we must forge ahead and trust in the Lord's ultimate plan, knowing He is in control.

We had Reese's 3 month check up with her Pulmonologist Dr. Wallace on Tuesday, April 6 and she passed with flying colors. Well, minus the traumatic experience of getting on the scale and getting measured...oh and the blood-curdling screaming when Dr. Wallace pulled out his stethoscope. Silly girl. My chunky monkey weighs 27.8 lbs and is 29 1/2 in. long. She's measuring above the 97th percentile...just by the skin of her teeth :) Anyway, we are delighted Reese has been growing so well, and Dr. Wallace said she was doing very well in all other areas too. This is such a relief for us, because as we have learned, it can change in the blink of an eye. But for now, we will take the good appointment and concentrate on enjoying life!!! Oh, and frantically getting things ready for a certain little cutie pies birthday party! I will post pictures of the bash soon!!!

PS...we were also told that Reese could be getting THE VEST in about 6 months. How great is that!!!

Easter Cutie!

2010-04-05T19:22:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun Easter! This is Reese's second Easter...she was born last year on Good Friday and we brought her home from the hospital on Easter Sunday. We were able to spend the holiday with my family in Emery, which was so much fun! We went to church and then went home and enjoyed some fabulous food and lots of laughs. Since Reese is the only grandchild and the only little one around in our family, she of course, entertained everyone there! She had a blast running around outside in her Easter dress...which by the way I LOVE! What a gift Jesus gave us by dying on the cross and rising again to save us. We have much to be thankful for.

Reese and mommy

My mom, my grandma, Reese and me last Easter. So tiny!

"Who is that?"

2010-04-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Those are pretty much Reese's favorite words...she says it all the time. Except it doesn't actually come out as "who is that". It's more like "whosat". Nonetheless, she loves to say it...especially when she's "talking" on the phone...too cute!

And "whosat?"...that's our very busy, very active, very squirmy, and in our opinion, our very cute and lovable 11 month old!

St. Patty's Day Surprise

2010-04-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

I love St. Patty's Day! I have some Irish blood in my family that runs deep, so we usually like to partake in the St. Patty's Day festivities to celebrate our heritage. I definitely want Reese to get in on this so I decided to whip her up some green mac-n-cheese in honor of the holiday. She totally dug it! It looked unappealing, but she wasn't afraid. When we were little, my mom used to put little green freckles on our faces with a toothpick and green food coloring on St. Patty's Day. I was a little annoyed by it then, but have come to love the fact that she did that to us. I didn't give Reese the freckles this year just because I feared it would have looked more like face paint than freckles, but don't worry...her time will come! For now though, she'll just have to stick to green mac-n-cheese.

Little Bruiser

2010-04-04T19:34:00.000-07:00

Reese started taking steps around 10 months and very quickly caught on to WALKING! She has been on-the-go ever since!

And because she's so busy walking and exploring without inhibition, Reese got her first black eye...but she makes it look pretty cute. This little mishap happened when she was still pretty clumsy and she fell on a toy. Ooops... :( She has since mastered the art of walking a bit more gracefully, but she still occasionally takes a tumble. All part of growing up, right?!?

Little Bruiser...

Mardi Gras...or at least the beads from Mardi Gras

2010-02-26T19:09:00.000-08:00

My aunt Maureen recently traveled to New Orleans on a work trip and lucky for her, it happened to be right during the peak post-Saints Super Bowl win celebration and Mardi Gras madness. Of course she thought beads (don't worry...they were all CLEAN beads) would be a great treat to bring back to Reese. After Cloroxing the beads, just in case :), we let Reese at 'em...and we caught her reaction on camera...

Oh no...I do not like this!

MOM!!!! NO!

Ooooh, please...get them off of me!

Well...I don't know. I still don't really like these things.

Ok, maybe I do like these! After all, a girl's gotta accesorize!

Piggies!

2010-02-24T20:13:00.000-08:00

Reese's hair is finally getting long enough to put in pigtails...and boy they sure are cute! How can you not love PIGTAILS!

Great Strides 2010 - Go Team Reese

2010-02-17T05:33:00.000-08:00

Greeting from the Petoske Family!

We are gearing up for Great Strides time again, and it's time to start raising funds to find a CURE for CF. Reese is currently 10 months old and doing great! We have learned a great deal in the past 10 months, and we are so completely blessed by Reese. Anyone who knows her, knows she is a fighter and she will fight this disease as we continue to work toward and pray for a CURE! If you have a few minutes, please take a moment to watch the video below that features our family and another amazing young lady, Lydia, who has CF. It details a bit more about CF and about our daily lives living with CF. A huge thank you to HenkinSchultz for producing this video in hopes that we can use it to raise research dollars so no more precious lives are devastated by this disease.

We would be honored if you would come out and join Team Reese. The walk is Saturday, June 5 at Spencer Park in Sioux Falls. And if you feel led to donate, we would also love your donations as we try to find a cure for this disease. You can join our team or donate here! http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/KevinPetoske If the time isn't right for you to make a contribution, we would ask for your prayers. Who doesn't want one more person praying for their child? Thank you for willingly supporting our daughter either through a financial donation, coming out to join us for the walk, or through prayer.

Thank you and God Bless!
Kevin, Emily and Reese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ytpxQ0VEHg

PS...Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks!

10 Months Old!!!

2010-02-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

Can't believe my baby is 10 months old. I'm planning Reese's 1st Birthday party already...makes me a little sad, but also so so happy. The first 10 months with Reese have brought us so much joy and we are so excited to celebrate many many more birthdays and milestones. Here is our 10 month old photoshoot. Oh dear...we're lucky we got 1 good one for the scrapbook. :) Now that Reese is up and movin...there are very few times when she is sitting still. We love you Reese! Happy 10 months!

Roomba

2010-02-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband got me a Roomba vacuum for my birthday. I guess turning 30 means getting cleaner :) Acutally it was very sweet, totally unexpected, from the heart and I love it. Plus, it provides entertainment for us all. We let "Roomberta" (as we like to call "her") loose on the floor and it is HILARIOUS to watch Reese watch "her". Whenever "Roomberta" comes out, Reese is first terrified, then intrigued, and after "she's" been out and movin' for ahwhile, Reese gets down on the floor and tries to play with "her". These pics are of Reese checking out our new gadget one of the first times we used it...they crack me up! She's watching and following "her" so intently (from a safe distance, of course) and keeps a close (and very curious) eye on "her". Aaaah, the simple joys in life. Ha ha! Welcome to the family "Roomberta"!

1 Month Catch Up

2010-02-01T11:51:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I've been a bad blogger...I'm sorry. I will TRY my hardest to do better. Now that Reese is mobile, I spend a good chunk of the day just trying to keep up with her. Here goes: January was a very very busy month. We had our Christmas celebration with Kevin's family, Alexis received the sacrament of Baptism, Reese started crawling on her hands and knees (she was partial to the Army crawl previously), she has mastered the art of crawling FASTER and FASTER, she learned to pull herself up on, well, EVERYTHING, we took a trip to Yankton to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Skalberg, and Reese turned 9 months old! She has also started repeating sounds and words and knows how to "say" what a lizard "says" quite well (I'll try to get some pix of that up...I'm never fast enough to catch that cute little tongue out)! We are amazed every day at the new things she does. How fun!!! I'm told it only gets better, too! Yay!

The girls with Grandma and Grandpa

Funny face...

Yay for Christmas!

What a beautiful Christmas gift!

They are going to love us for making them wear matching outfits.

Baptism Day!

Guess I need to still do some childproofing.

Here we go!

Nothing is safe now!

On her way UP!

And she's UP :)

Such a good helper with laundry!

She's so excited because she got to have some of daddy's root beer...it's really the simple things!

Reese with Great Grandpa and Grandma Skalberg

Alexis' cute smile! We caught it one night while we were babysitting! Love her!

Cutie...

Patootie!

Giving her baby doll some lovin...the doll makes smoochy noises and then says, "I love you!" Reese LOVES her!

Getting some quality time with her aunties Amy and Lori!

Yay! Aunt Lori's home!

Checking out all of the snow on our deck...ugh!

Our 9 month old....in our old big ugly blue chair - ha!

Reese saying "All gone!" And then using hand motions to go along with it!

Merry and Bright ~ Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T21:23:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to updating our blog! With the holidays, things have been a bit busy, so I haven't had much time to devote to blogging. Anyway, here are some "Christmas Fun" moments I captured during Reese's first Christmas. She had a blast and loved having our family snowed in at our house! Yep, that's right, we had a good old fashioned South Dakota blizzard on Christmas Day. The nasty weather outlook had been all over the news on the days leading up to Christmas, and because we happen to have an inside scoop at Kelo News (thanks Katie), my parents and my sister Katie and her husband Ross decided to come on Wednesday and hunker down for the storm. Gratefully we were able to make it to Christmas Eve mass and celebrate and worship, but the weather took a major turn for the worse shortly after. My aunts Kathy and Maureen and brother Chris made it over to our house, the Blizzard Headquarters, and we enjoyed our Christmas Eve together. Christmas Day was spent, by the boys, doing much digging out. Despite the weather, we had a wonderful Christmas! But, the Christmas celebrating is not over! Kevin's family is coming this weekend so we will get "Christmas Fun" Round 2!

The start of the blizzard

My sister Katie, Me, Reese and my Mommy on Christmas Eve

Reese opening, or should I say eating, gifts Christmas morning

Mmmm, wrapping paper!

Rubber Duckie, You're the One

2009-12-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help myself. I got this cute little duck bathtub to put inside our big bathtub as a shower gift, and I FINALLY got around to blowing it up. Reese LOVES it...both inside and outside ot the bathtub. :) Who knew a bathtub duck could provide such entertainment???

And...our baby girl is 8 MONTHS OLD!!! PS...on a side note about our big ugly blue chair...it finally clunked out, so we found ourselves at the furniture store looking for a new recliner. While we were at it, we got a new couch as well (as the couch was just as old as the chair), but I refused to throw away the blue chair until we get all 12 pictures of Reese in it. Thus, the clunker sits in our spare bedroom in the basement, lonely and broken, just waiting for the 10th of each month. I'm going to miss that old thing...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-12-09T05:24:00.001-08:00

I am a Christmas fanatic! Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm a straight up cheeseball when it comes to Christmas. I love the Christmas music, all of the awesome Christmas shows on TV(especially the classics), fa la la la laing and decorating our house, picking out the perfect gift, Starbucks Gingerbread Lattes :), and just the all arounds good cheer it seems to bring to people. Of course I know and celebrate the reason we honor Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus, and I love that too. Well, this year with Reese, I'm loving it even more! I can already see her morphing into a Christmas nut...sorry Reese, you don't have a choice. Ok, so she doesn't REALLY get what's going on, but she but she sure is cute! Here are just a couple pix I took of Reese the other night at my aunt's house...poor girl...she doesn't even know what she's in for! Ha ha!

Did I mention I love little Christmas outfits???

Ooooh, and Christmas Jammies???

THANKFUL...

2009-12-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, we packed up and headed to Midland to spend some time with Kevin's family. In reflecting on the things I am thankful for this year, the list is long, but family is definitely near the top. We are so grateful for our family and friends and for all of the support we've been blessed with. And of course, we are thankful for our little turkey! Although Reese spiked a temp and fought a fever for most of our stay in Midland, she was a trooper and enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. She especially loved spending time with her new cousin Alexis and taking pictures in their matching outfits. :)

Reese sharing all of her wisdom with Alexis

Happy Thanksgiving ~ 2009

Reese and Great Grandma Ardis

Pretty girls

CF Night at the Stampede!!!

2009-11-22T16:50:00.001-08:00

After learning that Reese had CF, Kevin and I decided we wanted to do whatever we could to make sure a cure is found. We have had the opportunity to become increasingly involved in fundraising for the CF Foundation, which funds research toward a cure. Earlier this year, the President of the Sioux Falls Stampede hockey team approached my sister Katie about getting the Stampede involved in fundraising for CF...thus, CF Night at the Stampede was created. (On a side note, Aunt Katie could not be at the game because she had the amazing opportunity to go on Honor Flight for KELO news with our Grandpa Lee...we're so proud of both of them. Uncle Kory and Aunt April couldn't be at the game either because they were busy snuggling with their brand new baby who was born earlier that day! Hi Alexis!) From pre-selling tickets and selling chuck-a-pucks at the door, we were able to raise $3,472.50! What a fun night! The Stampede won the game, we got to spend a great night out with our friends and family, we educated people about CF, and we were also able to raise some cash! Sweet! A big huge thanks to Jim Loria, the President of the Stampede, and to all of our family and friends who supported us and helped this event become a success! We love you!

Our family at the game

Grandpa, Mom, Dad, and Reese

Reese's friend Sydney and Reese...showing some love

Ooh, this is fun!

Our friends Ken and Nicole Briggs from Brookings...their little girl Rylee, who is about 15 months old, has CF. She and Reese are buds...and they don't even know it yet :) Nicole and I are able to chat quite a bit and she has become such a great friend!

Em and Ruthie getting ready to help sell chuck-a-pucks. Who could say no to these 2 cuties...I mean Ruthie and Reese. Although their mommy's are looking pretty good too! Ha!

Aunt Maureen, Dad, and Uncle Kevin putting together their strategy to sell the pucks. It worked!

Ruthie having fun at the game! So cute!

Kevin's mom, dad and sister and some fellow fans

Some of my fam, enjoying the game

Baby Alexis Ann

2009-11-22T15:45:00.001-08:00

She's finally here! After much anticipation, Kevin's twin brother, Kory, and his wife April welcomed Alexis Ann in the wee morning hours on Saturday, November 14. She has tons of hair and is absolutely beautiful, like her mommy and daddy. Reese loves her new baby cousin so much already! And so do we! Congratulations Kory and April!

Reese giving baby Alexis snuggles

The boys and their girls

7 Months Old!

2009-11-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Where does time go??? Reese is already 7 months old! I think back to how much our lives have changed in 7 months and honestly, I'm not sure what we did before Reese joined our family. In a few days, it will already be 7 months since we found out about Reese's Cystic Fibrosis diagnosis. In some ways, it seems just like yesterday, and in others, it seems like it's been years. One thing we know for sure...we are so lucky be able to share our lives with our daughter.

We had kind of an exciting day on Reese's 7 month birthday (November 10). Our family is involved in filming a short video to be used to help raise money for the CF Foundation, so for about 3 hours in the morning, a camera guy from HenkinSchultz came and recorded our daily morning routine. Reese was a rock star! I'm pretty sure she loved the camera. Also, it happened to be an unseasonably warm day (in the 60's!!!), so Reese and I also spent some time outside, playing in the grass. What a blessing! Since we are laying low and staying close to home during the cold and flu season, the fresh air and sunshine was much needed!

Every month on the 10th, we take a picture of Reese sitting in the (ugly) big blue chair in our living room...it's amazing to see how much she changes from month to month. And each month she seems to ham it up even more. Here are the 7 month big blue chair pictures.

Suppertime Sillies, Stink Eyes, and Sippys

2009-11-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

Suppertime is always a fun time at our house. It's one of my favorite times of our day! Now that Reese is in her high chair, for the most part we are able to actually sit down for a normal family supper. The other night, Reese was in prime form being silly and also giving her classic "stink eye" in between her silliness. We couldn't stop laughing at her funny faces...and we couldn't believe how fast she could change from all smiles, to all "stink eyes!" What a silly stinker! We are also starting to introduce the sippy cup, which is an interesting task...please note it's a John Deere sippy...thanks Grandpa John!

Silly Girl!

Out comes the Stink Eye...and no one can rock it like Reese.

Now I'm silly again!

Maybe not...

Ruthie and Reese

2009-11-12T17:56:00.001-08:00

Our friends Emily and Derrick had a little girl, Ruthie Anne, about 9 weeks after Reese was born. Even before the girls were born, Emily and I took the girls (in our bellies) on "play dates" to the gym, to water aerobics, to the mall, and out to eat. Em and I had lots of fun planning and preparing together...and now we're having fun watching the girls grow up together. I love watching them interact and get to know each other. I have a feeling these two cuties will be friends for life! Here a few pix of our latest "play date."

Spooky Fun!

2009-11-04T06:17:00.000-08:00

For Reese's first Halloween we took her to Emery to get in on some Trick or Treating in a small town! She totally dug it! She was such a trooper, and while we only hit a few houses, she loved it and I can already tell Reese is going to be a fan of Halloween. They say crossing a black cat is bad luck, but one this cute??? I think not.

Reese giving the stink eye...not quite sure what is about to happen...and definitely not sure why she is dressed up as a kitty.

Aunt Katie and Reese after the festivities!

Mommy and Me

2009-10-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

We love pictures! Before Reese was born, Kevin and I invested in a nice camera and have been taking pictures every chance we get. For the majority of the pictures, however, I have been the one behind the camera, leaving me with few pictures of Reese and I together. My good friend Carrie has recently taken up photography, so I enlisted her help..."Carrie, can you please take some 'Mommy and Me' pictures for me?" Of course she said yes, so last Saturday morning we were able to get outside on a fairly nice day and have a "Mommy and Me" photo session. Here are a few of my favorites! Thanks Carrie!

Little Hula Girl

2009-10-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

For part of her gift at Reese's baby shower in Midland in June, her Aunt Lori gave her this cute little Hawaiian dress complete with lei and flower for her hair. Lori had taken a trip to Hawaii and was so sweet to bring back a little souvenier for Reese. She is finally big enough to fit into it, so of course we had to take some pictures. I love my Little Hula Girl!

Country Apple Orchard

2009-10-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do in the Fall is to take a trip to the Country Apple Orchard. So far, though, our beautiful Fall days have been few and far between, so I haven't really felt much like going. However, we did recently have one relatively nice day so Kathy, Maureen, Reese and I decided to take a drive and head to the orchard. Even though Reese is still too little to get the full effect and appreciation of the orchard, she still seemed like she had a good time...and, we came home with some yummy apples too!

Auntie Maureen and Reese...and the cornstalk

Auntie Kathy and Reese playing in the pumpkins

Date With Aidan

2009-10-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

What a cute couple Reese and Aidan make :) Aidan's mommy Erin and I got to know each other initially through our jobs. Then, we found out we were both pregnant and due only 1 day apart. Aidan was born April 7, 2009 and Reese was born April 10, 2009. We had so much fun sharing and comparing pregnancy stories, followed by the joyful labor and delivery stories, and now we're enjoying "Aidan and Reese" stories. We recently got the two lovebirds together for a "date," at a local coffee shop...they had a blast "chatting" and even got a little cozy by holding hands! We are defintiely looking forward to more outings with Aidan and Erin.

So Cute it's Scary...

2009-10-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Reese got this adorable outfit from our friends Emily and Ruthie and a cute little pumpkin from Grandma Barb's garden. We decided to do a little photo shoot to capture some spooky fun shots of Reese being "so cute it's scary" with her little pumkin. She loved it! Happy Halloween!

6 Months Old...Time to Start a Blog

2009-10-27T07:09:00.001-07:00

Greetings from the Petoske family! Well, Reese is 6 months old so I decided it is finally time to start a blog! On Reese's 6 month (half) birthday, October 10, 2009, we were able to celebrate with Kevin's family in Midland for April's baby shower. We had a great time and April got lots of fabulous gifts. Reese is super excited to meet her new baby girl cousin, due November 13! You can probably tell how excited she is by the way she is sleeping on my chest :)

The Petoske girls...Amy, April, Reese, Emily and Lori

April and one of the many blankets she received

Reese and cousin Karlee getting to know each other

All decked out for a baby girl!!!