Thankful Thursday - Movement & Happy Hour

Know what time it is? It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I am SO thankful that peanut has started moving a ton. I was pretty sure I was feeling him/her move for the last couple of weeks. But this weekend the movements were unmistakably peanut!! It is the most wonderful and amazing feeling in the whole world. I find myself having a hard time focusing on anything else because I am just trying to will peanut to move all day long. I am also very thankful that Ronnie is able to feel it too!

I'm thankful for Sriracha sauce. I've been wanting spicy things non stop lately. I could eat something with a kick at every meal! And Sriracha sauce is an easy additive to any meal to add some fire to my food. I must say, I occasionally end up with a little heartburn as a result, but it's oh so worth it!

I'm thankful for a bike-riding hubby. Ronnie's been willing to ride INCREDIBLY slow next to me on a bike while I run most days. I know it can be frustrated to be crawling along, so slowly that balancing becoming a feat, but he is always so willing to keep me company on my runs. What's funny is that we both bring our ipods and wear our headphones, so we don't even really talk, but there's just something about having his company.

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for friendly neighbors. Whenever we head out of town our neighbor Rob is the first one to offer up a helping hand or a watchful eye. I need not worry about the trash getting out or the recycling being put curbside. It's always nice to have neighbors that you can consider friends.

I'm thankful for movement. It may be a teeny tiny movement, but it's one of the coolest things that I've ever felt. It's pretty much been confirmed by me that Peanut is for sure moving in there. S/he has kicked or rolled on my hand about 7 times know and I can pretty much tell you when and where each one of them happened. It's so mind blowing to me that a little human is in there and has the ability to make "contact" with his mommy and daddy already. Awesome!

I'm thankful for happy hour. I'm not a big drinker, in fact, I average about 1 drink per month, but I do love half off appetizers. It's pretty much a sure bet that if Mandi and I go out to eat (which is a rare occasion), it will always be to a place that has happy hour. It actually makes me uncomfortable to eat at an establishment later on in the evening if I know that I could have gotten it 50% off just hours earlier. I know, I'm weird (and cheap).

So, what are you thankful for today?

Question from Reader: More Severe Genes?

I love getting questions from readers and this one came at a perfect time in light of some new research that just came out. It sounds, given my answer, that I disagree with the research, but in fact I don't. Genes do play a role in how CF manifests itself in our lives, it does not however play the only role. She also asked about IVF and the role, if any, that PGD played in our decision.

Can I ask ? Is there certain Cf genes that are more sever than others or does it make any difference ? How old were u when ur parents told u that u had Cf I don't know when I should approach that with eoin he is 6. Also congrats on your 13 wk scan all looks great did u guys do ivf with pgd ?

My Response:

You know they do classify genes into one of five classes. The classes are often just a representation of how well our cell is functioning. For instance, class 1 has little to no cell function where class 5 has very close to normal cell function. My mutation DDF508 (the most common mutation in the CF community) is considered a class 2. It's important to remember that despite our “class” of gene we have a lot of control in how CF is presented in our lives. I've met people with my mutation that were very sick early on and I've met people with my mutation that are in their 60s. So to make a long story short, it's not about what gene mutation we have, it's about what we do to take care of ourselves.

I don't know how old I was when my mom first discussed CF with me, but I know I was very young. She presented it like this: some people have brown hair, some people wear glasses, some people are in wheelchairs, some people can jump high, and some people have cystic fibrosis. She made it very clear that I was a normal kid who happened to have CF and I was treated as such.

We did IVF but not PGD. Mandi had the CF screen for all 1600 mutations before we did IVF. Mandi is not a carrier of the CF mutation, so we went ahead with starting a family. If she did in fact carry the CF gene, we would have created our family through other means like adoption/fostering.

So good to hear that your boys are doing well! Just keep them faithful with their treatments and as active as possible and chances are they will have a very normal life.

**If you ever have a particular question you'd like to shoot my way, please feel free to email me at ronnie@cysticlife.org or find me on CysticLife!

My Belly's Shrinking?

We are 18 weeks today! So little peanut is about the length of a bell pepper. We haven’t posted belly shots in a while, so here they are. For some reason my belly actually looks like it’s shrinking in some of the photos, but I’ll just blame the photographer (cough, cough, RONNIE). I swear, it’s getting bigger and my jeans are finally getting pretty uncomfortable…but the rubber band trick is still working – except for the fact I have a major muffin top all the way around because they’re just simply too tight. The muffin top could also have something to do with the 9 pounds I've gained to date (no idea where my weight gain is supposed to be at this point, I'm just trying to hit my goal of keeping it to 10lbs at 20 weeks...we'll see). I think it’s getting to be time for some maternity pants, but I’m cheap, so I’m putting it off!

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

What do you think? Is it looking bigger to you? When do you think I’ll officially “pop”?

It's ALIVE...

A little update from Baby Land, just one day shy of 18 weeks. I finally have felt peanut MOVE! I've been pretty sure that I've felt little peanut move every once in a while for the last couple of weeks. But the last two days I'm even more sure that it's peanut. It is wayyyy too low to be my stomach growling and feels nothing like gas, so that leaves one option: baby! Any ladies out there that have been pregnant before or currently pregnant and want to tell me if I'm right? Here's what it feels like (my best description): put your hand on your cheek. Now quickly run your tongue along the inside of your cheek. It feels like what you feel on your hand (did that description make any sense?). Well regardless, that's what I've been feeling and I absolutely LOVE it. I don't get to feel it very often. It's generally only after I eat (normally lunch or dinner), when I'm relaxing/sitting on the couch, half laying, half sitting, face-up. And they come in waves of 2 or 3, but they always quit too soon.

The coolest part is that not only have I been feeling peanut, but Saturday and yesterday Ronnie felt it!! Since I know they come in 2 or 3, when we were on the couch hanging out after lunch (both days) and I felt the first little movement, I had Ronnie put his hand on my belly. After a few minutes of holding really still and being very patient, Ronnie got to feel one little movement each day. As soon as the little "pop" happens, we both look at each other and say, "Woah." Ronnie usually follows his "Woah" with a "I felt that" and mine is followed with a "see that's gotta be peanut.....right??"

Another cool development is the ability to FEEL exactly where my uterus is. It's a bit of a crazy feeling, but if I lay flat on my back, I can see and feel a big "ball" in my lower abdomen, from my pelvic bone to about a half-inch to an inch below my belly button. It's a trip! In the mornings it's always the most exaggerated (probably because I'm not as bloated and haven't eaten in 10 hours), so I often lay in bed for several minutes just running my hands over the "melon" that used my be my flat belly. It is my absolute favorite. I like to picture little peanut in there, and love the thought that my hand it just inches from where he/she is camped out!

If you can't tell, I'm starting to become really fascinated with this little being inside me and the changes that peanut is causing in my body (and the FUN changes, not just the acne and bloating which I've known all too well for the last 18 weeks!). I cannot wait for all the fun to come. It is finally becoming REAL and I can't imagine what it must be like to feel baby many times a day in full force!

That's about it from our neck of the woods. Who's doing something fun for Memorial Day??

**By the by, that is NOT a legit picture of my belly. If and when we can make out peanut's toes we'll probably be too fascinated and shocked to remember to grab a camera!!

CF in the News

FDA Approves Drug for C. Diff Symptoms:

http://ow.ly/55k7Z

Cystic fibrosis causing bacteria may harbour deadly MRSA super bug cure: 

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/442210.php

Cystic fibrosis bacteria could help fight back against antibiotic resistance: 

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-cystic-fibrosis-bacteria-antibiotic-resistance.html

Mauli Ola Foundation Concludes Successful National Cystic Fibrosis Month with Three Events:

http://ow.ly/55k9Y

Adults with cystic fibrosis benefit from specialized St. Mary’s program:

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/537629--adults-with-cystic-fibrosis-benefit-from-specialized-st-mary-s-program

Regenocyte Successfully Treats Cystic Fibrosis Using Patients’ Own Adult Stem Cells:

http://gamutnews.com/20110525/9567/regenocyte-successfully-treats%C2%A0cystic-fibrosis-using-patients-own-adult-stem-cells.html

McMaster research helping battle cystic fibrosis:

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/columns/article/537399--mcmaster-research-helping-battle-cystic-fibrosis

Genes Tied to Severity of Cystic Fibrosis Identified:

http://ow.ly/55kbR

So Why Don't You Exercise?

E-mail: Hey Ronnie-I am pretty new here...but have been following your blog for the past couple of weeks. I am sort of in a similar situation. For as long as I can remember I have pretty much had one IV clean out per year which would last 2-3 weeks and leave me feeling great. However, this past fall I was on IV treatment for a full 10 weeks...it was hell and even after that was all over my PFT's were still at an all time low. About a month ago I went to see my doc and my FEV1 was at 43% and he is trying to convince me to go on IV again. So basically all of this has scared the crap out of me. Since then I have been working extra hard to try and improve my PFTs without IV meds. I have always been really compliant, but I've added even more neb treatments & chest pt sessions to my routine. My efforts have shown some improvement in my FEV1...now up to 48%...but still not enough to make me happy.

The one thing that I can't seem to get on track with is exercising, and I think this could really make a difference. Some of the problem is because I am lazy...but most of it is because I feel like I have no time! As it is I feel like I have very few hours a day where I am not doing something CF related. I try not to let CF consume my life, but recently that's how I feel. Sometimes it seems like I spend my entire day doing treatments just to go to bed and wake up and do it all over again the next day. So I am sort of having a quality of life issue. I was just wondering how you manage to get in so much exercise time plus regular treatments...and still feel like you have somewhat of a life...haha?!? I should mention that I am not working right now...so I don't have that to worry about...but I do need a lot of sleep (to feel totally rested I need at least 9 hours a night.)

Anyway, sorry to dump that all on you, but I think what you are doing is great and very inspirational! That is a great improvement in your PFTs...I am very happy for you!! Anytime I am read your blog I keep telling myself that I just need to bite the bullet and do it! But easier said than done...{Name kept private}

Response: Hey {Name kept private}-Thanks for the message and trusting me to give you some advice. First, here are some harsh realities:

1) Hardly anybody WANTS to work it. It is only a select few people that actually have the desire to work out everyday.

2) You NEED the benefits of working out more than most people

3) Most people CLAIM to not have the time to work out

4) Without a job, you have MORE time than most people to workout

Now that we have those out of the way, let's talk about some solutions. First, you need to be convinced that working out is going to better your quality of life AND lengthen it. So while you, like the other 99% of the population, don't feel like working out, you have to realize that it is more important to you than that 99%. The key is just to start small and grow from there. Even if you can commit just 30 minutes a day to start, that's all it would take.I know however that you can commit much more, so let's look at how much time you actually have in a day. First, you get your 9 hours of sleep from 10pm-7am. Now your left with 15 hours. Take out 4 hours for treatments, leaving you with 11 hours. Now subtract 2 hours for meal prep and eating, leaving you with 9 hours. If you start working out 30 minutes a day, you'll be left with 8 and a half hours. That's 8 1/2 hours to do anything you want! Most people in the "real world" probably only have 2 hours at the most to do anything that they would want. You and I are actually very blessed with the amount of time that we have for our own "stuff". Think about people who work a 9-5 and then come home and have to devote their "free time" to raising a family AND working out.

So I hope you see by the last paragraph that you actually have PLENTY of time per day. Now, with the laziness. Sometimes this is the toughest thing to overcome. Here's some tips: First, commit to a small amount of time per day until you are completely comfortable and committed to that time. Once you are in a good routine, you can bump it up by 15 minute increments. Second, is there anybody that you can walk/run/workout with? It of course makes things easier if you have a motivational and accountability partner. That way the days that you are feeling "lazy" there is someone around to kick your butt into gear. I also believe that it is best, and most important, to workout on the days that you have no desire to. Really concentrate on pushing yourself on those days. When you're finished, it is more rewarding, and think how easy it will be to go on the days that you are motivated.

Lastly, I am a huge advocate for hospital stays. They really help me and I know that for ME, it is what I need. I've never done well with home IV's and the hospital forces me to rest. There are some countries around the world that make their CFers go into the hospital 3 times a year, and they usually have better longevity rates. I usually go in whether I'm feeling sick or not. Because you have to remember, once your lung scars or dies off, that's it, it's gone and it's not coming back. By staying one step ahead I think you put yourself in a better position to avoid that.I hope this helps. Sorry for the long response, I just wanted to cover everything. If I missed something or didn't answer one of your questions, please, let me know. Also, I wanted your permission to put your questions and my response on my blog www.RunSickboyRun.com. I won't use your name and I think it could be beneficial for others to see.

Please keep me updated with your PROGRESS cause I KNOW it's coming.

Do Life,
Ronnie

Thankful Thursday - Horrible Acne & American Idol

Know what time it is? It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for our circumstances. I was sitting with friends and we were discussing various topics such as finances, housing, relationships, etc. And I just sat there thinking, "Man, we are so incredibly blessed." There are so many circumstances, struggles and situations that others have to deal with in their lives, and it often feels like we have been dealt a very easy hand. I am so grateful for all that the Lord has blessed us with. Sure, we have things in our lives that some may consider "struggles," but when I hear what others have to deal with, I find myself thanking my God for the minor issues we have!

I am thankful for my hubby and his contributions around the house. Ronnie does far more around our house in the way of chores than I do, and I am so thankful that he does all that he does. He's constantly washing dishes, picking up, gardening, you name it! Last night, I had to go to my office for some meetings and then I had small group shortly after getting home. I figured I wouldn't eat a real dinner because there simply wasn't time. But when I walked in the door, I smelled food. Ronnie had made a delicious soup, and had it ready for me when I got home. I don't know what I'd do without him kicking in 75% of the work around here!

I'm thankful for face wash. My face is finally starting to clear up (and by clear up I mean it's now just horrible acne instead of horrifically hideous acne). I went to a dermatologist and got some face wash that is seeming to help (after 4 weeks of using it). I am so thankful that at least now it's not so angry and inflamed that it itches. I'd rather it just look terrible than FEEL terrible. Small victories are all I'm hoping for at this point, if you can't tell! Hopefully it continues to clear up and I only look slightly like a monster by the time this baby makes its appearance.

I'm thankful for a great year of marriage - and many, many, many more to come!!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful that I could just watch Scotty win American Idol. He's been one of my favorites since day one and I grew to like him more as the show continued. It's just so nice to see a kid that humble with such an amazing voice and good looks. What really won me over was when he cried during his whole hometown visit. I was really pulling for him to win and I'm just glad he pulled it out. The fact that he first gave thanks to God for his win was just icing on the cake.

I'm thankful that we got to spend some time with Mandi's college friend and her husband. Mandi's friend, Jenna, happened to be out in Phoenix for a conference and as a result, we've been able to spend some time with her and her husband Brandon. They are both "salt of the earth" type of people and I have a feeling that we'd all hang out a whole bunch if they didn't live in Tennessee. Brandon is currently a football coach so we've had a whole lot to talk about (for those that don't know, I was also a football coach in a past life).

I'm thankful for Emi. Emi is my new little 2nd cousin that my 1st cousins will officially adopt tomorrow. She is such a cutie and has been an absolute blessing to not only Tim and Gina but to the whole extended family. We are a family full of love, so any new member that we can love up on is welcomed with opened arms. Can't wait to watch you grow into a beautiful young woman Emi!!!

So, what are you thankful for today?

Respiratory Therapist - What I Expect

Today I had the opportunity to sit in on an advisory board meeting for the respiratory care practice of Carrington college. The basic goal of this meeting was to make sure that the students Carrington college was putting into the field were as prepared as they could possibly be to perform their job at a high level. There were representatives from the college as well as various hospitals and medical institutions around the Phoenix area. I was invited to sit in as a “public member” and speak to those in attendance about my involvement in the CF community. There wasn't much at this meeting I could actually contribute to other than that, but it was still interesting to be a part of the process.

Being part of this meeting did get me thinking about my experience with respiratory therapists over the years. I then started to think about my answers to various questions that they would ask somebody like me (Believe me, I had to bite my tongue not to just speak out of turn at the meeting, but I wanted to make sure I'd be invited back). As a result of my daydreaming I figured I would share with you guys three of the basic things I expect out of respiratory therapists (RT).

Effort. I can say without a doubt that the number one thing I expect out of every single RT is effort. It literally makes my skin crawl when someone walks into my room and gives me a hand pound comparable to a corpse. Now, I admittedly take a very hard pound and not every one that comes into my room has the physical strength to comply, but I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the RT's who are very physically able to perform a good, strong hand pound, yet choose to give a piss poor effort. And if you don't have the physical strength, just come in giving it your best. It doesn't matter how much you weigh or how strong you are, everyone can give 100%.

Attitude. And more explicitly- a good, working attitude. I understand that you have other stuff going in your life besides work. I totally get that you and your husband may be having issues. I can sympathize with you that some of your work takes extreme physical labor. I know that some days you're just simply dog-tired. I know that for some of you this is "just a job". So how do I put this nicely? Ummmmmm, you're not a volunteer. Unlike me, you're actually getting paid to come into my room and perform a task. Unlike me, you're not forced to be there because you feel like crap. And unlike me, you're able to go home to your wife. I understand that you're human. I understand that you can't always “be on". But please understand that I tell you the truth when I say "I'd much rather not be here then you".

Don't stink. You wouldn't even think that RT's coming into my room smelling like an ashtray would be an issue, but believe it or not, it is. Just as I wouldn't go into someone's house smelling like alcohol who was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, you shouldn't come into my room smelling like smoke. It's downright disrespectful. And yes, I would rather you come in smelling like body odor then smelling like you just took a shower in the latest fragrance by Britney Spears. What can I say, my lungs are sensitive (and even more so when I'm in need of a tune-up). So although I respect your right to smell how you want to smell, I respect my right to breathe even more.

So that's it, a short and sweet list of what I expect out of respiratory therapists. So what do you think guys? I'd love to get your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Anniversary Presents: Mission Accomplished

I was finally able to give Mandi her anniversary presents tonight! I was waiting for one of them to come in the mail and the special day falling on a Sunday didn't help in that department. But, her reaction was all I needed to know that it was worth the wait. For those of you who don't know, the first year anniversary is also known as the "paper" anniversary. Mandi and I had been racking our brains to come up with some creative gifts to exchange for weeks now and I was so glad that the moment finally arrived.

Her first gift was a stroke of luck that I happened upon while cleaning out our "catch-all" closet a couple weeks ago. You know, that closet that gets all of the stuff that doesn't have anywhere else to go. Well, we had been putting stuff in our catch-all closet since May 22nd of last year and it finally got to the point to where I couldn't look at it anymore. While I was cleaning it out, I stumbled upon Mandi's college diploma. One thing you must know is that one of the first things that drew me to Mandi, and ultimately made me fall in love with her, was her drive, focus and the fact that she's super smart. To me, her college diploma is very representative of that. The fact that it also says Summa Cum Laude is just icing on the cake (I had to brag on her a bit). So I bought a decent looking frame, threw her diploma in it and told her how much I loved her brains. That my friends was gift number one.

Gift number two was a little more difficult to put together. I also need to give you a little bit of a back story. When Mandi and I were pretty fresh in our relationship (about 6 months into it), we took a cross-country road trip. On this road trip we listened to a lot of music. One of the artist we listened to a ton was Corey Crowder (listen to his music here and visit his site here). Our favorite song during that road trip was a son that he sings called "Starting Forever". We actually commented to each other that that song would be a perfect first dance song for a newly married couple. Well, as fate, luck, love and determination would have it - we ended up being that couple. We even convinced Corey and his wife Laney to attend our wedding AND to sing that song live as our first dance song. And it's not like they could just roll out of bed and do it - they had to fly across the country to be at our wedding and with our eternal gratitude actually made it work! Not only does Corey and Laney hold a special place in our heart, but the song "Starting Forever" does as well.

I reached out to Corey and Laney a couple of weeks ago to help me out with my second gift. I asked if Corey could scribble down the lyrics to our first dance song on a piece of paper that I could frame in our house. Being the awesome guy that he is, he obliged and today it arrived in the mail. Corey took the time to hand write the lyrics out and also included a special message to both Mandi and I. Like I told Laney, just the fact that I thought of this gift would be what would blow Mandi away. I'm not the most thoughtful or romantic guy on the block, but after hours upon hours this is what I came up with for my "paper" gift. Let me just say - it's as if I gave Mandi solid gold. When she opened it up and realized what it was, tears were streaming down her face and she could barely get out the words to tell me how special it was. Mission accomplished.

Thank you again to Corey, Laney and my one good idea a year :)

**Oh yeah, and as a bonus, I bought a powerball ticket for our anniversary and won 103 bucks!!

One Year Anniversary Recap

As some may have noticed, I'm not posting this blog until a little later on Monday - which is just an indication of how fun and busy our anniversary was. It was a great way to top off an even greater year together. I couldn't be more thankful for the man God provided as my life mate and yesterday was just a great celebration of the love we share!

The morning started with breakfast-in-bed made by me. Unfortunately it wasn't a surprise because Saturday night I told Ronnie I was going to get up and run in the morning so he could sleep in (which isn't unusual for us) and he replied, "wake me up, I'll go with you"...."Uhhhh. You have to sleep in." I replied. So he knew breakfast-in-bed was coming, but it was delicious none the less. He had blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee. After breakfast we relaxed on the couch and watched a little TV. Then we headed to the 10:30 service at church.

After church, we headed out for Ronnie's planned portion of the day: exploring. We drove out towards the mountains and a lake called Canyon Lake. Here are a few photos of the excursion:

Driving on the open road

Stopped at a look-out to check out the view

Had a little snack siting on the tailgate

Explored some more

Oh yeah...peanut came too

After our 4 hour excursion, we headed home for Ronnie to sneak in a treatment and to shower before dinner. We had dinner at the place where we got married, overlooking the lawn where our ceremony was. It was great food and incredible to sit and remember our ceremony and reception at the very locale where it all happened. After dinner, we headed home to enjoy dessert: a replica of the top layer of our wedding cake! Here are some pictures from dinner and dessert:

Being a goofball during our caprese appetizer

Dinner - YUMMY! We split it, so excuse the plating. That is our bad job!

On the lawn where we got married

You know it's a special occasion when...

CAKE!!!

All in all it was an incredible day with my incredible hubby!! We had such a great time that I'm already looking forward to next year's anniversary - but I can't wait for all that will come in between!

One Year of Marriage - My Wedding Vows

To my beautiful wife - Happy anniversary! This year has definitely flown by, but I'm so glad that we were together for the flight. I love you so much and I can't wait to see what this "paper" day holds.

I hope the vows that I said to you on our wedding day are backed up by my actions every single hour that we share together...

My vow to you - May 22nd, 2010:

Mandi, I know that you have been dreaming of your wedding day since you were a little girl. And although I can’t claim that I ever dreamed about this day as a little boy, I now know that it was you I was dreaming of when I became a man. I could stand here and tell you all of the reasons that I love you, but we’d miss our honeymoon.

I just want you to know that you’re my inspiration. You have given me a zest for life that I’ve never felt before. Your smile, love, laughter, winks, hugs, kisses, drive, trust, spark, words, glances, encouragement and your support, fuel me each day and give me the energy to be who I am. Before you, I didn’t quite know what my purpose was. I now know that it was to be your best friend and your husband. No matter what lies ahead for us I will see it as a journey; one that can only be completed by the two of us together, with God by our side.

I promise to you today before God, our family and friends to love you unconditionally. I believe that God has been preparing us for this moment and for our future together since the day we were born. Before this world was even created, I believe that God chose you as a perfect compliment to me.

Through the good and bad, I want you to always know that I will be by your side. I promise that you will never again face life alone.

I promise to dance with you in the sunlight and prepare us for the storms. When the storms do come, I promise to hold you and to protect you. I promise to never keep tallies of wrongs, instead give you praise for all that you do which is right. I promise to never let the sun go down on our anger, and to treat each morning as a new day to love you. Our love may be like the ebb and tide of the ocean, but it will always flow.

In times of want, I will do all that I can to make our love rich. And in times of plenty, I will never let our love grow poor. In sickness, I will nurse you back to health. In health, I will do everything I can to watch you fulfill your dreams. In sadness, I will give you a shoulder to cry on. In happiness, I will be there to create memories with you.

When you need someone to encourage you, I want it to be me. When you need a helping hand, I want it to be mine. When you long for someone to smile at, look to me. When you want to tell a story, turn to me. When you feel weak, take my strength.

When my strength isn’t enough, I promise that I will call out to our Lord in Heaven. I promise to lead by example in our relationship with Christ and remain faithful to Him all of our days. I promise to lead us in a life of worship and to always put the Will of the Father before our own.

I will not forsake you or these vows that we have made, but rather strive to show you my love for the rest of our lives. This is my promise to you: From this moment, everything I am and everything I have is yours and for eternity my love for you will remain.

CF in the News

1. FDA Clears Fast MRSA Test: http://ow.ly/4Qurl

2. From clinic to catwalk: Cystic Fibrosis patient becomes top model after talent scout spots her at hospital: http://ow.ly/4QuCi

3. The Faulks left the life they knew on a life-saving mission to help find a cure and control for cystic fibrosis: http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/Publications/connections/May2011/Above-and-Beyond.cfm

4. What's Bitter to Taste Might Ease Tight Airways http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ATS/26499

5. Synteract and Mpex Pharmaceuticals Team Up for Cystic Fibrosis Walk and Cure:

http://www.bioportfolio.com/news/article/685470/Synteract-And-Mpex-Pharmaceuticals-Team-Up-For-Cystic-Fibrosis-Walk-And-Cure.html

6. Triathlon on woman's bucket list:

http://ultimatemontrose.com/stories/245726-triathlon-on-woman-s-bucket-list

7. Babies' blood tests can end in false-positive screening scares: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42829175

Gopher's and Cystic Fibrosis: Part II

Continued from Tuesday's blog...

On Tuesday I talked about the problems that are going on in my garden. To recap, in case you didn't have a chance to read Tuesday's blog (which can be found here), I had a gopher that was slowly making his way through my planters and garden eating everything in his path. It started out simply not knowing what the problem was, but as soon as I figured out that it was indeed a gopher I hesitated to react. At first I hesitated because I simply didn't know what to do, but after some research and figuring out exactly what to do, I still did nothing. This went on for a handful of days as I basically waited for the gopher to make his way to the largest part of my garden - the part full of strawberries, zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, onions and a variety of herbs. I knew the time was coming when I would go out and find my garden completely destroyed, yet I did nothing.

Towards the end of Tuesday's blog I hinted at the fact that I thought the story had a lot of parallels with the CF life. Specifically, I think the story has a lot of parallels with some seasons in my CF life. I asked you all if you saw any similarities or parallels between the story of the Gopher in the garden and the CF life and a few of you gave some very good answers. In fact, there were some answers that I hadn't even thought about. I found it especially interesting to see which answers came from CFers in the community, and which answers came from parents in the community. It makes perfect sense why they would be different. It's certainly not too late for you to read Tuesday's blog and tell me what you think.

The purpose of today's blog, however, is to tell you what I think and how I think it relates to my CF life.

Let's get one thing out of the way, I've been far from perfect in navigating this life my entire life. There have been seasons that I have done really well for a really long time and there have been seasons that I've done very poorly for a really long time. There have also been blips along the way where I stumbled for a couple of weeks or conversely I was "on fire" for a couple of weeks. It is important to realize that although we all have a different story, many of us travel the same path for at least a little bit of the time. And just like the different answers and responses I got to Tuesday's blog, I may interpret the story an entirely different way as it relates to my life.

There have been times in my life when I knew exactly what I needed to do to give myself the best shot at being healthy, yet I did nothing. My parents, doctors and friends would tell me exactly what I needed to be doing (ie treatments, exercise, tuneups). However, even though I believed them, I acted as if I did not. I'm convinced looking back at all of the times I said, “treatments don't help me” or “exercising isn't worth it” that I was using it as a defense

mechanism. The bottom line was I simply just didn't want to do those things. I had the ability, the time, and the resources to take care of myself. I just simply chose not to. The crazy part is that I knew I was getting sicker, that I was feeling different (and not in a good way), and yet it's like I was waiting for it to get “bad enough” for me to do anything about it. I knew that they were all right and what they were saying was exactly what I should be doing, but at the time I just felt like they didn't “get it”.

The problem with how I handled those instances is that every time I allowed my health to get “bad enough”, I suffered for it. Take, for example, the summer between eight grade and my freshman year of high school. I spent all of my time with my friends having sleepovers, hitting on girls and preparing to be a big, bad, high school student. I certainly felt invincible, and was too "busy" to do my treatments. My doctors knew how important the upcoming football season was to me and stressed that I should buckle down on my treatments and take care of myself in order to be successful in the upcoming season. But I ignored them. In the back of my mind, I knew they were right, but I was having too much fun "living life" (as I said) to be bothered with doing everything they said I should do. Well, the end of summer came, and instead of heading out onto the football field, I had to go to the hospital for 10 days and missed the first football game - a game I had worked for, and looked forward to, my whole life.

Point is, even though I knew that not putting my health first would ultimately cost me, I still made the wrong decision. But all it took to snap me back into reality was missing that first football game. I remember getting phone calls from my teammates to my hospital room after the game and feeling a deep sense of regret. What if I would have put my health first that entire summer and not my friends or what I thought of as "life"? What if I would have given up just one hour a day to completely devote to my health? Would things have turned out differently? Of course I'll never know the answer, but I can say with confidence that putting my health first would have given me the best shot at playing in that game.

This scenario also wasn't just isolated to 1993. As I got comfortable and the harsh lesson wore off, I would slip back into non-compliance - sometimes for a long period of time and sometimes for a short period of time. But in those times I slacked off, just like that gopher, CF wasn't taking any days off. Just like that gopher, CF was going to continue on its mission. And it wasn't until there were consequences and lessons that I would intervene.

There are always consequences to my health and my life if I chose not to do anything to fight my CF, just like there are consequences in my garden if I don't do anything to fight off that gopher. So now I challenge myself each day to fight that dang "gopher," show it who's boss, and I will win. The fruit in my life is much sweeter and much richer than anything I can grow in my garden.

Thankful Thursday - Peace Offerings & Funky Bugs

Know what time it is? It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for "peace offerings". Whenever Ronnie and I get into an argument or bicker, we never allow ourselves to remain angry long. In order to break any lingering tension (generally moreso on my end than his - he's a lot better at letting things go as soon as an argument is over), one of us will offer the other a "peace offering". "What is a peace offering?" You may ask. It's anything you want it to be. Normally it's whatever is within reach; a pen, a pillow, the others cell phone, it doesn't matter. One of us just hands the other a random object and says, "peace offering." It pretty much always makes us both smile and that's the end of it. After a minor spat last night, I was thankful for the quick and easy tension cutter that is the peace offering. How's that for a little scary insight into our relationship? Give it a shot sometime...it works!

I'm thankful for quick recoveries. Ronnie and I came down with a funky stomach bug on Tuesday, leaving me with a super upset stomach and diarrhea (sorry, hope you didn't just eat!) and him with achy joints, an upset stomach and a headache. But luckily when we woke up yesterday morning we were good as new. I am so thankful that our ailment didn't linger!

I'm thankful for new workouts. Ronnie found us a great new lifting plan, and boy oh boy does it make for some sore muscles. Now, I'm sure a few of you read this and are concerned that I'm pumping iron, but have no fear, I've lifting WAY less than usual and just increasing the reps. I'm thankful that we have been able to get into the gym and not only do cardio but lift as well. It always feels good to wake up with sore muscles, as it's the proof of hard work!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for the incredible scene of the sun piercing through the storm clouds that I saw today. I've always been one to appreciate the sunsets, rain storms etc, but I've always really loved that "sky opening up" thing that can happen amongst storm clouds. I remember when I was younger my friends and I would comment that Jesus must be descending from Heaven :)

I'm thankful that I got a crack at the gopher in my garden today. Early this afternoon I walked out into the garden to see that the gopher had been at it again and had now made his way into my tomato plants. Just when I noticed that he had also started a mound of dirt near the strawberries is when I saw his little sneaky head pop out of a hole. I ran to Home Depot yesterday to get some "gopher control" (aka gopher killer) and I enthusiastically grabbed it when I saw the hole he was coming from. The rest is history...I hope.

I'm thankful for phone reminders. If it wasn't for my phone beeping at me in order to get my attention of an event I had scheduled (ie taking out the trash), I don't think I would remember a single one. I have a notoriously bad memory that gets virtually non-existent for the "non-important" stuff. The problem with that is I don't consider much to be important. Good thing I have this Blackberry to keep my life in order.

So, what are you thankful for today?

Ring Test - Baby Gender Predictor

I know I was supposed to finish up Tuesday's blog, but I've come down with some weird stomach/body virus that is really wrecking some havoc around here. Mandi started feeling sick this morning and thought it was morning sickness until I started feeling a bit queasy. It got worse as the day continued and now has turned into a full fledged body attacking virus. My joints ache, I feel like I'm on the verge of throwing up and I can't wait to get to bed. I apologize for not finishing up Tuesday's blog, but I do promise to get to it soon.

In response to some comments on Monday's blog about finding out the gender of our little peanut, we've decided to put some of your suggestions to the test. A few of you suggested trying "The Ring Test" to determine the sex of our baby. For those that don't know. you're supposed to hold a wedding ring that is tied to a string above your pregnant belly. If the ring rocks back and forth in a straight line, it's a girl - if it starts in a circular motion, it's a boy. So, what do you think our ring did???

**Edit - Apparently Mandi is supposed to be lying down for the ring test. Whoops :)**

Gophers and The CF Life: The Similarities Are Astounding

For the past couple of weeks I've been playing a cat and mouse game with a critter that is getting oh so close to my garden. Before I get too deep, let's start from the beginning, let's go back in time about 2 weeks...

So I walked outside (to the side of my house) to some above ground planters, that Mandi and I planted cucumber and zucchini in, in order to do some pruning. I noticed that some dirt had been kicked up and the cucumber plant just looked a bit "off". At this point I thought that it was possibly the wind that had kicked the dirt up and shifted the plant enough so that it looked different. I went about my business and pruned both plants.

The next day as I was walking to my trash can, by way of the planters, I noticed that the cucumber plant was now a bit smaller (and not a result of my pruning). As I investigated further, I came to the conclusion that some bugs must have gotten into the plant and started nibbling away. I then brought out the bug spray and gave it a good dousing.

Then two days later when I was putting some recycling in the bin, I noticed that the entire cucumber plant was now gone! My first thought was that my neighbor was playing some sort of joke on me to be honest with you. Due to my very green thumb, I couldn't come up with many more answers other than bugs or pranks. That's when I noticed a mound of dirt about 5 feet away from the planter. Now, I'm no expert, but at this point I figured that there must be some critter making holes in my yard and then proceeding to eat it's way through my vegetables. I then noticed a very tiny hole in the dirt of the cucumber planter that after digging it up found it to be a much bigger hole. I didn't however see any critter.

The next day I noticed a new mound of dirt in-between the cucumber planter and the zucchini planter. Ok, I thought, this needs to be handled. I didn't want to lose my zucchini plant like I did my cucumber plant. Knowing that things were progressing with this little rat, or whatever it was, I new that I needed to kick my butt into gear. But it didn't. Could have done something that night, but I didn't. You can probably guess what I walked out to the next day.

Yup, the zucchini plant didn't look as vibrant as it did the day before. The dirt had been dug up and the leaves were already starting to wilt. I reached down, grabbed the plant and up it came. Not a root in sight. The little bugger actually ate all of the roots to the plant but had not yet made his way to the leaves or zucchini. I put the plant back down to grab Mandi and showed

her what had happened. After she checked out the damage and headed back in, I stood by the planter to decide what step to take next. It was then that I looked down at the hole this dude had dug and noticed his stupid nose pushing dirt literally 6 inches from my foot. Looking back, I wish I would have grabbed a shovel and done my best to "find" him with the end of it. I may have been able to take care of the problem right then, but I didn't. Instead, I picked up the zucchini plant and hastily tossed it into the trash can.

Then for the next week, I talked about how this critter, gopher to be exact, was making his way through my garden. I rehashed the story at least a dozen times and each time ended it with what I needed to do. See, by this time, he had moved on to another planter which is only about 10 feet from my main garden. I knew that I had to act in order to save the "prize" of my backyard. But, I didn't. Instead, I just talked about options. I told people who would listen that I really didn't know what to do. I mean, I knew something had to be done, but just what had to be done I did not know. I sat idle and complained even though I new the future. I knew, based on this gopher getting closer and closer to my full garden, and the destruction that had been left behind, exactly what was going to happen. It wasn't a matter of if my garden would be destroyed, but when. Yet, I did nothing. At this point, even though I didn't know what exactly needed to be done, I should have done something, yet, I did nothing. In fact, I didn't attempt to do anything. It felt like I was waiting for my garden to be destroyed, to then figure out what to do. Almost as if the garden being destroyed would somehow make this threat more "real". By that point of course it would be to late.

I could've acted a few days prior, but I didn't. I could've acted when I noticed a big mound of dirt and my cucumber plant destroyed, but I didn't. I could have acted when I was holding a dead zucchini plant in the air, but I didn't. I could've acted as the gopher made it's way towards my garden and proceeded to do what was almost a certainty at this point, yet, I did nothing. So what was it going to take to make me actually do something to solve this problem? Not sure, but apparently it hasn't happened yet. I just hope by the time I decide to act that it won't be too late.

So what exactly does this have to do with CF/Treatments/Life? Well, what do you think?

To be continued on Wednesday....

Top Ten Reasons to Find Out The Sex

On Friday we posted our latest ultrasound video. Being 15 weeks, we thought we could possibly find out the sex, since with the right shot, you can take a really good guess at it. But as you saw in the video, our nurse went back and forth, initially thinking girl, then suspecting girl, and ending the appointment with her best guess, "boy...but we'll have to wait and see." Our IVF clinic is still giving us ultrasounds (just being nice) so we're going to sneak in one last one on Thursday before the baby doesn't fit on the screen, with the hope of finding out the sex.

We got a lot of comments on the video saying that being surprised was the way to go. And I felt the same way most of my life. I always thought I wanted to be surprised. In fact, when I played out my baby's birth I envisioned hearing "It's a ____" out of the doctor's mouth and being so shocked. However, since getting pregnant, my perspective as changed. I figured I'd put together my top 10 reasons for wanting to find out the sex. So here is goes:

1. I hate calling the baby "it". We call our baby Peanut as much as possible, but sometimes there are contexts where he, she, or it is necessary. And something about calling my sweet, precious, totally-loved baby "it" feels cold.

2. I constantly am running my own movies of the future, and having a gender would help my movies along. I want to know if I'm picturing a little boy playing with trucks and begging his daddy to play catch in the yard, or a little girl feeding a bottle to her baby and wearing around mommy's high heels (How's that for fitting your child into gender-specific roles? I just realized as I was typing that that I don't quite have to force my children into stereotypical roles. And I will say, a little girl of ours will be a complete tom boy...but these are my made up movies - so that's what I envision).

3. I don't want a gender-neutral nursery. The nursery is one of the best parts of pregnancy. You get to put together your child's space and make it a place that suits the baby, while still being a room that you'll enjoy in the wee hours of the night. I want a nursery that is perfectly-suited to a little boy or that is girly for a girl. Plus, I'm not that into yellow or green - two of the go-tos for gender-neutral nurseries.

4. Gender-neutral clothes are hard to come by. My friend recently had a baby and in shopping for her little bundle, I found that the girls' sections and boys' sections are huge, but you have to search high and low for cute gender neutral clothes. And being the advanced planner that I am, I know I will want quite a few outfits on hand before baby comes home.

5. Narrowing down the name game. We've started playing the name game since finding out we were pregnant. But we have a tough time narrowing it down to less then 5-10 names. Once we know the sex, we can really start to focus on just the boy names or just the girl names, and finally reach a conclusion. Otherwise, we're constantly churning names for both and I have a feeling we'll never get there by D-day.

6. Bonding. This one sounds a little silly, but I will say it anyways. Something about knowing the sex of the baby seems like it will help me bond while the baby is still in my tummy. When I feel Peanut kick, I want to be able to picture who it's coming from. It kills me that I have to wait another 6 months before actually seeing this little nugget's face, but being able to at least picture a little boy or girl helps - who knows why.

7. Hand-me-downs. We have cousins and friends who have kids of both sexes. And they are generous enough to pass down some things they're no longer using. However, it seems like our house could become a giant store unit pretty quickly if we're collecting both boy stuff AND girl stuff. And then, what do you do with all the stuff of the wrong sex? So knowing the sex will keep our selection limited at least by 50%.

8. Ronnie needs at least 6 months to prepare if it's a girl. Ronnie has ben very honest since the beginning that he wants a boy. "Why?" you ask. Because he knows that a little girl will have him wrapped around her little finger. So he needs some time to strategize how he will remain THE boss-man, while he would be melting inside when she simply looked at him. The joke is on him though, I think a little boy may have the same effect on him :)

9. I'm impatient. I LOVE surprises, but I have always had a tough time not peeking at Christmas gifts before their wrapped and under the tree. It's the same way with the baby. I want to be surprised, but I just can't keep myself from peeking!

10. Ronnie needs to plan exactly what the tattoo will look like on his bum...

KIDDING! There will be no tattoos in this household.

So let's hear it! Did I forget any reasons? Do you TOTALLY disagree? There's still time to change our minds...so let's hear what you've got!