HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY KENDRA AND MALIYAH

I can't believe Kendra and Maliyah are 11 years old!!  It blows my mind!  What they have been through, what we have all been though these 11 years has been beyond difficult.  But not once did we throw in the towel and say that "we cant do this anymore".  The trials that we have to endure were so trying at times.  We are grateful to have so many people around us that support and love us.  It really is a miracle!!

I think I've said this before, but that okay, I'll say it again.  Kendra and Maliyah's odds were so against them from the time they were conceived.  The doctors told me several times that they wouldn't make it through the pregnancy and if they did they would die shortly after.  I wasn't going to be the one to play God, I was going to do whatever it took to give them the best chance and to help them through whatever it was they would face.  I could of never imagined what would of come out of all of it...

Kendra and Maliyah are so HAPPY!!  They have so many people that love them so much.  Their smiles light up a room.  They have taught me so much about being who I need to.  And taking one day at a time.  It took them years to recover from their separation surgery, and it takes them sometimes weeks to recover from other surgeries and sicknesses. They take everything in stride and they move forward.  Now onto the lighter things. :)

At our house we try and do Birthday weekends, especially since we have two sets of twins.  We want them all to feel special and they each have their own idea on how that can happen.  Kendra wanted to go to her favorite Mexican restaurant, Lorena's and Maliyah really wanted to go and get custard at Nelsen's.  And that turned into shopping and going to the pet store etc.  Just having fun and making memories. :)  My favorite thing to do.

As I have written in the past there is never a dull moment at our house and going to eat at a restaurant isn't dull either.  The kids were all having a good time talking and laughing, but by the end of the meal I could tell Maliyah wasn't feeling very well.  I left the table to take Justin to the the bathroom and when I came back all heck and broke loose.  Maliyah had throw-up in the middle of the restaurant, all over her plate in the to-go box.  It was horrible.  I felt so bad for her and everyone else that was eating around us.  We apologized gave a big tip and left quickly.  I was so worried the next stop on her birthday would be the emergency room for dehydration, but she got better when her friend showed up to watch movies and have a sleepover.

Things are just the way they should be right now.  Everyone is healthy and happy (after a week of ear infections).  We do have ups and downs everyday.  But things are going so well.  

Thanks for the countless emails and Facebook posts and messages we have received wishing the girls a Happy Birthday.  You helped make their day very special.

Love,
The Herrin's


   

It's Been Awhile

I FOUND IT!

Time sure has flown by...  Okay maybe not 100% true.  It's been really crazy since the girls had surgery on the 26th of November.  Of course Kendra got another infection and wasn't doing very well.  And Maliyah bounced right back.  It has been a VERY stressful month.

 Courtney turned 13 on October 29th.  I'm sure she's going to be a very good teenager.  Other than the moodiness with everyone at our house.  She's getting really good grades. She is taller than I am now, no surprise there.  Courtney is really into SIMMS and plays it all the time, unless she is at the mall with her friends.  We had turned off her cellphone that we got her last year,  but just about a month ago realized it was better for her to have one.  She's with her friends a lot more.  The rule is no texting boys,  we forgot to add no facebooking boys.  LOL!!  I need to cover all the bases.

 We smashed cake on Courtney face!

 Courtney as the dead bride!  Her makeup was really fun to do.

 Courtney and her friend Grace!

  Kendra is doing well now.  She is taking a lot of steps without assistance on her prosthetic, that means without her walker, crutches or anyone holding on to her.  She's really into make-up, in this picture she is putting on eye shadow and eyeliner.  Her hair is getting so long.

Maliyah as a bee for Halloween.  She is doing really great.  Her kidney is working well, even with all the HUGE problems with it this month.

Justin loves the game Mind Crafts and putting videos on youtube.  He and Austin have the best teacher Ms. Lee.  Justin loves her and she's so good with him.  He's starting to like school and it's not to big of a deal to get him to do his homework anymore.  I just hope it continues.

Austin loves playing outside with his friends.  He is the opposite of Justin.



Have a great day!

Love The Herrin's

PS.  I found the post!!

Smoke Detector and Cold

I'm not sure where my other post went.  But I will keep looking for it.

It has been so very cold here lately, it's about 8 degrees when I drop the kids off at school.  Sometimes down to 2 degrees.  And with a thick inversion to add to it, making Austin's asthma act up.

Well onto our really funny lives.

Jake and I a couple of months ago were talking to the kids about fire and what to do if we ever had one.  We even joked about setting off the smoke detectors one night to test them.  Man, the jokes are always on us.
\
So last week at about 2:30 am the smoke detector went off, Jake and I both shot out of bed.  It was so loud and Jake ran downstairs to get the boys and Courtney out, but to his surprise they were already on their way up the stairs.  Jake ran to Courtney's room and woke her up.  Jake was already assessing the problem.  Well I was upstairs.  Holy Cow!! Courtney was so asleep she thought Jake said she need to get ready for school, so he found her in the bathroom putting on her make-up.  The joke around our house now is, Courtney has to have her make-up on even in a dangerous situation.  LOL.  Took us along time to fall back asleep, so we let the kids sleep in.  What a night that was.  We found out later that the negative temperatures at night was causing people's smoke detectors to go off.  The next night they did the same thing.  We needed 3 new ones.  It was a great adventure.

I know I have written about Justin being a hard kiddo and a huge challenge.  It comes and goes, but we have been working really hard on him eating.  Normally we wouldn't make him, because he would just throw-up whatever I MADE him eat.  Well I was getting so sick of making a dinner and having him and then others not want to eat it.  So I made a rule you either eat dinner, or you can have a nice breakfast tomorrow. That was really hard for me because Kendra and Maliyah have a hard time gaining weight.  But I need my sanity!  So the rule is staying put.  The best part, Justin ate a piece of corn and is actually trying things, even if they are just little, it's huge progress.

Jake has lost 20 pounds and is working really hard at the gym.  We started going at night together.  It's been really nice.

Kendra is still fighting an infection from her last surgery in November.  This is her second one.  It's really tough on Kendra.  I wish she didn't have to worry about this stuff.

Thanks for reading and all the emails checking up on our family.  It's greatly appreciated.
Have a great day!

Love,
The Herrin's

Mixed emotions

Well after everything and waiting for awhile.  The doctors came back to tell us, it would be to risky to do the surgery that we have been waiting for.  Mixed emotions, nothing is a sure thing in medicine and especially surgery.  I realized that along time ago.  But still hard to hear there is nothing surgically the doctors can do for Kendra and Maliyah now.  We do have the best doctors in the world that we work with and they have the best interest of the girls in mind.

But then I look back at everything they/we have gone through, and I can take this.  It's a little bump in the road and we have a lot to be grateful for.  I'm just so glad to be able to but that off our list of things to do, and work with the medicine that they have said to try.

The girls are doing better now than they have for years.  They are the most healthy.

I have been really busy since the kids got back in school, volunteeingr for organ donation stuff, volunteering at the kids school and hopefully some other volunteer opportunities that will be coming my way.  School for me is on hold(it already started).  If everything turns out just right, I will be putting together a bike ride to raise awareness for organ donation in April.  I'm very excited for that!  Make sure and talk to your loved ones about there wishes, everyone can donate their organs.  Look into it! :)  That's my plug.

Justin and Austin just had their first belt test.  They passed, and are high white belts.

Courtney is about to be a teenager.  HOLY COW!!  I still can't believe it.

 Have a great day!

The Herrin's

The Summer is Coming to a Close

Still can't believe summer is almost over.  Only about 2 weeks left.  Sometimes it's sad to think all the freedom is done and over with, but then we have such a tight schedule when school starts.  I just want a happy medium.  :)

Courtney 12

Courtney is really obsessed with making cakes and decorating them.  So we have appeased her in getting anything that she would need.  She is getting really good at it.   But the clean-up is really, well hmmmmm. Enough sad. :)  She is starting dance camp this next week and will be gone until Friday.  Should be fun!  Courtney also has a good friend Zanna that is moving to Georgia.  She is really upset about that.  Also all three girls have another friend Brooke that is moving to Indiana and there has been a lot of tears from it.  We told Courtney she could visit Zanna, but she's doesn't want to fly alone.  But Brooke will be back to visit family a lot.  So they are glad about that. 

 Maliyah 10

Kendra 10

Kendra is having such a lazy/healthy summer, well until today.  But its been since the beginning of June that she's been in the hospital, so we'll take that.  Maliyah just got sick this last week as well.  I'm so glad they had both gone this long without sickness.  Makes me so happy!! I hope there bodies will be rested enough for the testing that is coming up.  Maliyah's kidney is really holding strong.  She even is being more responsible for her medicine's.  She made signs, she has one on her door and the other on her head board to remind her to take it everyday.  She's even doing great with drinking her water.  She has to have 50-60ozs a day, everyday.  She understands that is what her kidney needs to function at its best.  And she wants to stay healthy.  One of the things that will help them stay healthy is exercise, so they want to start taking gymnastics.  Their friend Lacey has been showing them how to do back hand springs.  So Maliyah especially is excited to start that.  And the girls upper body strength is incredible.

 Austin's go-cart accident

Austin 7

So the boys are taking karate still, to my surprise.  And moving up slowly.  Austin has his red and blue strip, and Justin has his blue strip.  They are going 4 days a week.  And I can see a difference in how responsible they are, well some days anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkrzPLvuDe8

Justin 7 playing with his legos

Jake is playing basketball most afternoons. 

I run  1 1/2 to 2 miles a day.  And I feel really great.  I'm also obsessed with making smoothies, Summer is the best time to make them too.  All the fresh produce.  YUMMY!!

Enjoy the rest of your Summer, if you have any left. ;)

Love,
The Herrin's

What a GREAT SUMMER so far...

The Summer started off really hard with the girls getting sick and being in the hospital.  But so far so good (knock on wood) everyone is healthy and happy.  This Summer has been by far the best we have had.  I never hear the kids say they are bored.  They have all been great about cleaning up after themselves and doing their chores.  Maybe it's the fact that if they do extra chores I pay them.  I think I broke the code to motivate my kids into doing the chores.

Courtney, Kendra and Maliyah are going to Drama Camp this summer.  They love it!  And more importantly they get to go all day LONG!!  :)

I think I posted awhile ago about the boys going to Karate.  I thought the boys were to immature at the time and never really went forward and signed them up for it.  But this summer they were really pushing to start Karate again, so I took them back. They are ready for this BIG step and their sensai is really strict and  great with the boys.  They WANT to work hard going 4 days a week. Austin already received a blue stripe on his belt.  And the next day Justin got his.

Hope your Summer is going well!
Love,
The Herrin's

Hopekids fundraiser

We are trying to raise money for Hopekids, which is a group we belong to that puts on activities and events for children with special needs and life threatening illnesses. It is a wonderful organization that allows us to do many things that we and others like us would not be able to do otherwise. Please help us raise as much money as possible for this wonderful organization, any amount would be greatly appreciated. You can donate by going tohttp://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/herrintwins/hopekids-wasatch-adventure-2012 Thank you so very much.