Rhandyl: Hey y'all. Welcome to season four of Raising Disabled. We are really excited for this season, or at least I know I am. Yeah, our break for the holidays was,, definitely a nice reset for me. But. , Deonna and I met this week, and,, we came up with a lot of good ideas, topics some new things. And so we're, excited , to get rolling on this.

So today we're going to get back into the swing of things with a good high low buffalo. And so that is where Deonna and I talk about highs and lows and something random that's. Happened over for this one. This is gonna be over all of the holiday season, basically.

. Deonna, you wanna us get started and talk about your Yeah. What some of your highs are. 

Deonna: Yeah. First of all, I can't believe it's season four. Like I, just can't believe that. But I feel like we've been doing this forever together, but then it feels like it just started too, so I know it's exciting. But yeah, we did a lot since we last talked. I won't go into [00:01:00] all of it, but it was intense. Like we were just going every other day. But it was all pretty much like really fun stuff and everything. Yeah.

But, we, me and Cole went and saw this band or this guy named Josiah Queen. I don't know if you've heard of him. He's newer and like the No Christian, Yeah. Kind of category. But he was really fun. He actually came, we went and saw him at Buddy Holly and he came out into the crowd and came out and interacted with Cole. And so that was Oh, wow. Way fun. And so Cole loves him now. It was really fun.

But yeah. , We're part of the Wicked fandom and so, , when Wicked came out, that was like a national holiday to us, and so we let Allie, miss school, and me, her and her nurse Macy, went and saw that in imax and that was super fun just going and doing that. We all dressed in full-blown, wicked nice, clothes [00:02:00] and everything. So had to go do that and so that's love it. We've been listening to it nonstop since that came out and we had to buy it the other day, like the second it came out and all that, but that was of course. Then that's fun. Oh yeah, it was fun.

And then our nurse Tanya got married and both Oh yeah. Of my kids were in that. And so neither of them had ever been asked to be in a wedding, and so that was really. Cool. Just getting to watch them Yeah. Be in her wedding and just like dance with her and just have fun. So that was a really cool thing to get to do. They were her something blue, which I've talked about. Yeah. But they were blue and everybody else at the whole wedding were black. Oh, nice. So they stood out. So it was cute.

Yeah. But we. Did Thanksgiving in New Mexico with my mom's side of the family, and that was a [00:03:00] lot of fun. I got to hang out with my nephew and yeah, all my cousins and aunts and uncles and everybody, and that was a blast. Like we just. I played games. We played this game called Squat Up, which is really fun. It's kind of like taboo and charades. Ooh, I have to look into that. We're mixed together. 

Rhandyl: Our family's , my side of the family we played tons of games, so I have to look that. Yeah. 

Deonna: We love it. It's so fun to play. You have to act stuff out, which is Oh, fun. My, my mom's side of the family plays all the like really embarrassing games. Yeah. And then my dad's side of the family plays like hardcore cards and like that kind of vibe. Yes. So yeah, I know how to play everything because of. But but yeah, that was fun.

And then my hometown is Artesia and their team, the Bulldogs were in the state football. Oh yeah. Game. So cool. And so we went and got to me and Cole stayed back and watched that. And so [00:04:00] that was a blast and. They were losing pretty bad. Like I thought they were gonna lose, and then they came back at the last, oh, that's the best in one. The comeback wins. So it was a really stressful game, but fun. It was a good one.

But yeah. We did some Christmas things like me and Allie and my mom and dad went to this. Polar Express event at buddy Holly, which is our big concert amphitheater Yeah. Venue here in town. And that was real fun. Like I, I probably only have a year or two left of Allie doing the little kid. Christmas think 'cause she's getting too cool for school about some stuff. And we went and did that and it was like cookies with Santa and tons of crafts and they show the movie with popcorn and this big theater. So that was fun. We had a good time with that. 

Rhandyl: I have been for years trying to get Remi to get into the Polar Express, and every year she's just like, not, it's kind of a strange movie. And then this year though, she loved it. [00:05:00] Both of the kids loved it. Oh, good. I'm sad that I don't, this was before you guys moved to back to Lubbock, , with kids, but they used to have a Polar express in Wolfford around here, and it was, I've heard about that, this huge thing, and then they stopped it like, I don't know, probably 10 plus years ago, but yeah, but there's some, like we have friends back where we're from that go to the Oklahoma City one and apparently it's, it's cool. So I'm like, I believe a road trip to that maybe next year. I don't know. 

Deonna: And Oklahoma City has so many fun things for kids, like I didn't know that till this summer. I would be, yeah, very happy to go back and do another little weekend trip. Yeah. OKC's awesome.

Yeah. But no, we did that. And then we go every year to this thing called Big Blue Christmas at LCU and it's like a huge Christmas event put on by that college, which is where we went. Yeah. And it's fun, like you're seeing all these people, 'cause you went to college with them and now they all have kids and everything. And we took our nurse, Melissa and [00:06:00] her daughter Ellie and then our nurse Tanya and her husband Nate. And so that was fun, just hanging out with them and getting to do all the Christmas Eve things and yeah. So that's a really fun event. If you live in Lubbock it's good, but. I know, I think, weren't we out of town? I, yeah, you invited us when we were out of town. I was like, oh, I know. It's really fun. There's a lot of cool stuff, but,

and then we, stuff, the van, the toy drive that we do mm-hmm. that takes up a massive part of my time. Oh yeah. In December this year I was gonna look up before we started recording, but we got like 940 something donations or toys, which is like. Double what our biggest year ever had been. And so we had all these sponsors including, the podcasts. But yeah like it was, it's really fun 'cause we go take everything, which is always a fun experience to go deliver it. 

Rhandyl: And of course I was outta town that during the delivery were, yeah, you [00:07:00] were town a lot. I missed everything. 

Deonna: You did. But then we went to the oncology Christmas party that weekend and you get to see, your stuff being handed out. And that we did it last year for the first time. But they let Ali participate in the party, which is a really fun event. And then we get to actually watch the kids, you know, take our stuff home. So enjoy kids. That's so cool. Yeah. So that was fun.

And then. , , We hosted Christmas. Oh, you did? Yes. And that's always a thing. But it's like with parents like us do you travel? And pack up all your crap. And have to you, 

Rhandyl: Especially y'all, were there Thanksgiving? You traveled Thanksgiving, yeah. This was, walk back to back. 

Deonna: We were gonna hang out with Dane's family for Christmas, and so it was like, do you go stay somewhere where you're not as, you know, like it's not your house. Yeah. And you're having to pack and just do all that. Or do you stay home and you're [00:08:00] hosting, but then that's a whole nother, that's a whole nother stress level Yeah. Thing. But I was like, oh, we should cook out on Christmas Day. He's like, yeah, I bet you'd like that. Because then it puts most of it on him. Mm-hmm. But he has these famous cinnamon rolls that he makes on the smoker. Ooh. They're very good. And so he made those and he made this really good ham, and he makes this brisket mac and cheese that could Oh wow. Probably kill a man, but it's so good. We did all that,

but. My nephews and niece were here and we went skating on Christmas Day at Texas Tech. , Me and my husband and all the kids put on roller blades and we roller bladed all over campus. Oh, fun. Which was really fun. I do wish Allie's. Wheelchair had breaks on it because I'm not the best skater, so I have to hold onto her so I don't fall. Yeah. But then we would get going, how you stop super fast. Yeah. And Dane would be like [00:09:00] just stop yourself. I'm like, I can't do that. And so there's too much momentum. Yeah, like I would straight up be screaming for people to come stop me like all the time. But that's so fun. It was really fun and it was right before Texas text game and everything, so it was exciting to be down there. Yeah. But that didn't pan out as well as we'd like for it to have, but,

and then we went to our old college LCU and we went and played pickleball and we played that game. Sardines. Do you know what that is? I don't know. It's like the opposite of hide and seek. One person goes and hide. Oh yes. And then you, yeah. When you find them, you hide with them. Yes. I, and so we played that. Oh man, I forgot about that. It was hilarious. Hiding Allie is so hard. Yeah. Like her vent making noise and she's big because of the chair. Sure. And so we would be. Real strategic , but she, she was pretty good. Me or Dane would hide with her and the kids. That's awesome. Just had so much fun. I was so sore. Aw. Like doing the rollerblading I bet. And then running, 'cause you have [00:10:00] to sprint to play sardine. So yeah. I was like, I'm. Definitely turning 40 this year.

But and then, we just opened presents and all that. Cole got Oh yeah, like a fancy marble chess board. 'cause he loves chess. Oh yeah. He's Mr. And then, ally got tickets to go see Wicked because that's what she asked for, of course, for on Broadway. So luckily that Santa knew that Wicked was coming to Dallas in May, so she's 

Rhandyl: Good for Santa on top of that. 

Deonna: Yeah, Santa was a little stressed about those tickets. Yeah. Oh, that's so fun though. But that was pretty much what we did. It was really fun. Lots of good times, lots of just hanging out and stuff. That sounds great. What was yours like? 

Rhandyl: Yeah, our highs were basically all the holidays situation. Like you, thankfully this holiday season for us was just so wonderful and it sounds like it was for y'all. And as we both [00:11:00] know that, that is not the case a lot of years. So we are, nope, I'm very grateful for this holiday season that we had. I was going through before we started recording trying to, gather my thoughts and I was like, wow. , Usually my low list is a lot longer than my high. At least for the last few times. I've had a really rough Yeah. You, yeah. 2025 was pretty, pretty crappy me and my family, but yep.

Yeah, so this is an exciting high low buffalo for me. So we good stuff happened. Yeah. Good stuff. Yeah. So Thanksgiving we did the opposite of you guys. We stayed home for Thanksgiving and traveled for Christmas, but Thanksgiving, we did host, but not family. We hosted our, we have good friends that are neighbors that I've talked about before, , that come over and it's been our tradition lately. The last quite a few years, , they all come over to the house and Cole and I cook all the foods and they bring some sides and I make all the pies and all the good traditional Thanksgiving food.

And then we always, , watch the Macy's Day parade and then of course, the Cowboys game, which it was, I was a little torn [00:12:00] at first oh, chiefs and cowboys. Who am I gonna root for? Because yeah, I'm a huge fan of both, but I was like, it's a Lubbock probably. You know what? My grandpa that passed away back in October, I was like, he was the most diehard cowboy fan I've ever met. Mine was like that too. He would leave like it. Like I remember as a kid, it's like in the nineties when they were like really good and they had a noon game. We'd be at church and he would come in a separate vehicle and he would leave if the preacher got a little wordy. He's so he kick off that time. Oh my.

Yeah, I was like funny all decked out in Cowboys gear. And of course my husband, I don't know, he didn't really grow up a big Cowboys fan, so he always gives me a hard time about being a cowgirl fan. So I was decked all out in cowboys stuff that day and they pulled it off. Yeah. Yeah. But that's funny.

But then right after the Thanksgiving, my husband and I Cole, went to Kansas. We, go deer hunting in Kansas usually every other year. And we went this year we have a friend that has the land there and we meet him and [00:13:00] then, some other friends, we all get an Airbnb and hunt there for That's fun. A few days. It's really fun. And the family that runs the farm and stuff, we've known them for probably 15 plus years. And yeah. They've known us before kids and they keep up with us and we, all the Christmas cards and then when we see 'em, it's, it's like, they've became like a little like Kansas family.

And then my friend and I tagged out like girls were the only ones that shot anything this year, which was funny. And girl power. Yeah. And so our buddy that was with us. He was like, Hey, what do y'all think about, going to Dallas tomorrow and catching the Big 12 Championship. Of course, I couldn't believe y'all we're a huge tech fan. We're like rid Raider fans, like through and through. Yeah, that's where I'm an alumni. And so when he said that, and I were like, yeah, let's do it. So we, yeah, loaded up everything from Kansas, drove to Dallas. That was crazy. Went to the game and it was amazing 'cause we won and we had great seats and got to [00:14:00] see a lot of the players and like their families and just, it was just really fun. That was crazy. It was such a cool atmosphere. It was there. And, the Cowboy Stadium. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

Deonna: Had you been in the Cowboy Stadium before?

Rhandyl: I had been there, on a tour when it very first opened. I have never been to a game there. Oh. I been to a Cowboys game in the older stadium. Yeah. Back when I was like in high school. So this was my first game to be at there.

Deonna: You gotta to go to the two best games of the season for tech. You got to go to the one with all the celebrities and then you gotta go Yeah, the B That's cool. 

Rhandyl: And then we played, yeah. Then that was who we played again. Yeah. This year. We were able to attend more games than we have in years and so it's been a fun year. For Texas Tech, red Raider fans for sure. That was fun.

And then Christmas, of course, Christmas happened. We went to Shamrock, Texas where my husband and I are from, and we were there for about six days. And we had nursing go with us, so that was amazing. And like you were saying, y'all were , rollerblading on [00:15:00] Christmas. It's wild. Like the weather here has been unseasonably. So warm, so weird. It was hot. Like I was sweating. Yeah. Sweating. Yeah. And so the whole time even up like Shamrock is north of where we live. And so usually it's. A little bit colder, but it wasn't, it was hot. And so it was just crazy. Like we were eating Christmas meals out on the patio.

And but that also led to a lot of fun outdoor activities. 'cause like in the wintertime, my dad's a farmer and rancher, so in the wintertime even though it's been warmer, they're still not grass. So they have to go out and feed the cattle. And oh, the kids, we loaded the kids up and they got to go experience feeding the cattle and riding on the back of the truck's and, , watching the hay bales and feeding the like protein cake, and just getting out in the country. We had a real small town Christmas, we did all the things, and my sister and brother-in-law, they live there and they had a baby calf in their backyard that, , they were having to bottle feed. And so Oh yeah, that's, I saw we went over there. [00:16:00] Yeah, we went over there multiple times to help bottle feed the calf. And the kids loved it. Remi even held the bottle and, Oh really? Yeah, she held the bottle, of, I helped her 'cause they're heavy and the calf Oh. Just like bucking away at it, like glass or something. But that was really cool for them to get to just experience little things that I took for granted as a kid. Yeah. That was my normal and so now need to take my kids back , and get to experience those little, , moments that. I hold dear. So it was really cool.

And all the family Christmases luckily, we had all of our days spaced out. There's some years where it's like we have breakfast at this house. Then we moved to the next house for lunch and then back to another house for supper. But this year we had three separate Christmas days between. The families. So it worked out really nicely. We got to spend a lot of time with each family. It was really fun.

The kids Santa brought Barrett a new bicycle. Oh, that's fun. Yeah, he's gotten really good on his little balance bike. And so we [00:17:00] got him a pedal bike with no training wheels. We'll see. We're still working on that, but and then Remi got, how old is he? He's four. 

Deonna: Yeah, that's old. Like he's really, that was when she started riding a bike without training wheels, which is crazy to get think about now. But yeah, she was pretty little. 

Rhandyl: And it was funny 'cause I remember like when I told Santa what he wanted. Yeah. I was like a bike for Christmas. He is not really gonna get to enjoy that during this season. And then sure enough, it's warm. Yeah. So he did, he practiced on that quite a bit.

And then Remi got. Some new. If you've been listening for a while and you have any idea, all the things that it takes to get from place to place, with our girls, there's uhhuh. We have a rolling duffle bag with all the backup necessities you might think of, and then of course, a backpack for school she got a new set of that and then she got this really cool. Orchestra, it's, this is toy, it's called an orchestra, and it's the B brand. They have it at Target and I was able to find it on Amazon. [00:18:00] They have really great toys. But this one if you think of how the Tonie Box works the pieces go on and then the sound comes on. This is the same thing, but it has a bigger plate on it and it has 13 different instruments, and then you put each instrument on and you don't have to put it on in a certain way. It just connects through a magnet or whatever that might be on the so she can just throw 'em on there or place 'em anywhere she wants to. So you don't have to have great, fine motor skills for it. And there's multiple songs that it'll play and each instrument, like if you just put one instrument on, it'll play. But if you put all of them on, they all play in harmony. It's the coolest toy ever. Weird. That's It's actually, that's cool. Like way Yeah, surprised and happy about it than what I thought I would be. It was, it's such a cool toy. That's cool. I highly recommend it.

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Rhandyl: That was our hurrah for Christmas and then new Year, we kinda like Thanksgiving. We just chilled, we stayed home. , So Cole smokes a ham, like you said. Dane did for Christmas. He smokes a ham for Thanksgiving every year. And I keep the ham hawks and I make this big for new Year's Eve, new Year's Day, I make this big crockpot of blackeyed peas and collared greens. Oh yeah. And all this stuff. And so it's just all the superstitious stuff. Yummy. Yeah. Oh yeah. And yeah, we had [00:20:00] that. And then watched the terrible Orange Bowl. That was a heartbreaker for us for sure. So to start out our lows, 

Deonna: we had such high hopes. I know we did, but you know how people are like superstitious about like how you spend your New Year's day is how your whole year's gonna go. I didn't sleep New Year's Eve 'cause we let our nurses off so I was awake 'cause allie's, ventilator was alarming. Low minute ventilation all night long. No. So I'm up all night long with that. Then. I got a nap from five to eight or something. 'cause my husband was on nights, so he's not home or anything. And then I woke up that morning and I was pouring my tea. I dumped my tea kettle onto my hand. Oh. And so boiling hot water went all over my hand and I was like, ah, screaming and everything. Happy new ear. And there. I'm like, happy New Year. And then Texas Tech lost and I was like we're off to a rough first [00:21:00] day. But 

Rhandyl: speaking of super soon, so on New Year's Day, Cole wakes up and he comes out of the bedroom and he is, he has this full outfit on that he is wore to every game. 'cause he's so superstitious. Yeah. Like he's in his shoes, his hat, his polo, everything you like. Okay. And he wouldn't sit down really because he doesn't ever sit down during the games. It was hilarious. And then once you saw the trend, the way that things were gonna go. Yeah. He finally took his hat off and sat down. He's gonna put my pajamas on. I was laughing. 

Deonna: We told allie when we were waking up that morning. I said, you have to wear Texas Tech clothes. And she was like, I don't want to, I wanna wear my new clothes that I just got. Yeah. And I was like, are you serious? Like you're not gonna wear Texas Tech clothes. This is the biggest game they've probably ever played. Like you're not gonna wear. Oh, for sure. No, I'm not gonna put wear it. So I was like, whatever. Halfway through the game we put a bow in her hair and we still lost. So ah. But Allie's I know. Is it my fault that we're losing and Dane's like, [00:22:00] Allie, I think it is. We need to put a bow in your hair. So we put a bow in her hair. Yes, it is your fault. But I know that's funny.

We, I know New Years, we always do this weird thing on New Year's Eve, so I'm from New Mexico and there's this thing that they do up. By Santa Fe somewhere, and it's called The Burning of the Zozobra, and it's this crazy gigantic. Marionette kind of puppet looking thing. But they fill it with things that people send in. If you're, have cancer and you send in the papers Yeah. From that, or like a divorce or whatever, negative things happen you and they burn it in this huge bonfire, but they do it in like October. We make our own every year. And my kids this year modeled theirs after. You know that Elmo meme that's got flames coming behind it. Oh yeah. Yeah. And it looks kind of evil. They did it after that. That's funny. So they make the thing like in the day, and then we go back through the entire year and we have paper and we write [00:23:00] down everything that happened that whole year. Like good, bad, like everything. Yeah. And then we burn it on Christmas Eve every night. So that's our weird thing on, we do. It's therapeutic because there's things we were upset about or that made you mad. Yeah. Or whatever. And we say once you burn it, it's over and you have to move on. Yeah. And so it's like a, 

Rhandyl: I like that idea. You letting things. I love that. It's fun. Yeah. I remember you telling me about that last year and it's, yeah, it's a fun thing to do. I really like that tradition. That's really cool. 

Deonna: I always forget to share about it till we're doing it, and then people are like, we should do that. But it's like midnight on New Year time. Yeah. So it's sorry. Yeah. But did you get any presents that you loved that you were like super excited about? 

Rhandyl: I just got practical things like new shoes new socks, and , we got a new ice maker, which was, we needed so badly.

Deonna: Oh, like a sonic ice? 

Rhandyl: Yeah. Oh yeah. Those are nice. But my probably I'm the most excited [00:24:00] about my husband got me a spa gift card and I've already scheduled it for the day after my birthday, which is coming up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I I. I have already got on the books and have that planned. Have something to, I love that place to look forward to. Me too. Yeah. 

Deonna: The I, you like step outta the for a little bit. Yeah. I got a massage for the first time in a very long time. Like a few days ago. Oh yeah. And I was like, I need to start doing this more often. It's just so nice. It wasn't at Woodhouse, it was like somewhere else. Yeah. But it was just so nice. I was like, oh my gosh.

Rhandyl: What about you? What? Did you get a gift that you were pumped about?

Deonna: Yeah, Dane got this year we were saying we were only gonna get each other like one thing that never pans out. So then, he got me more stuff than I got him. I'm like, oops. But he got me a new purse. I wanna have my Kindle everywhere I go. But it didn't fit in any of my purses. So he got me one that I had picked out and so Oh good. And then he got me a new cover for my [00:25:00] Kindle, which is, I love it. It's so funny. And then, my son got me this thing. It's like a, you know those candle warmers? Yeah. It's like that. It's a little candle warmer. 'cause I always have candles burning. Like I love them, but it looks like this really pretty lamp, but like the candles in it, it's so cute. Oh yes. I've seen those. Yeah, I've been doing that like crazy. Apparently he works for the librarian at school and she has one, so he got me. That's sweet. Aww.

But it's, it was fun. It was a good holiday, but yeah, same. As, as far as lows, I really, I was like trying to look for a low, which is right. Funny, same, but I'm like, okay, like I guess I don't have to talk about one, but we don't always take pictures of those though. Yeah. We're like, oh, this is terrible. Look at my boiling hot water. Like hands. Let's take a picture of.

But no the holidays are weird when you have somebody in your family that's passed away and every, oh yeah. And that's [00:26:00] just this like under, I don't know, like this thing that's just always a thing, I think. And it probably will always feel that way to me, a little bit, but Sure. I was. , I was really happy to get to hang out with my brother's son and get to be with him. But when you're with him, you just are thinking like yeah. Oh my gosh. You're missing, all these moments and how he is and all that. So that's always like a, like just under the surface hard.

Rhandyl: Does he remind you of your brother?

Deonna: He does like his face looks exactly like my brother. Yeah. But my brother was a redhead and he has that brownish reddish hair, but it's more brown like it's not, yeah. Like my brother's hair was like flaming red when he was little, but yeah. But he acts like him, which is weird. I was gonna say his personality, like he doesn't know him. Yeah. It's like his dad. He knows through stories and stuff, but it is crazy how genetics can carry down. Like a personality trait. Or whatever. Like I didn't really [00:27:00] believe in that until now, and I'm like, oh my gosh. Like he does these things, my brother did. Or he's real generous. Like he'll draw every single person in the whole house of picture. Oh, and those are things like, my brother was always giving people stuff and things like that it's cool to hang out with him and it's also like, oh man. Yeah. Even like me personally, just selfishly, I wish he was here, sure, of course. But yeah, that's always a thing, but really, like we had a good. Last few months, it was just filled with a lot of fun, good things.

Yeah. And I know that's not the same for everybody that's listening. No. I've seen so many parents lose children in the last few weeks. Me too. Be in the hospital the whole time. One of our friends that lives here in Lubbock, I didn't even know they were in the hospital in Dallas, and then you just are like. Wait, you're in the hospital, your kid's on a vent, like what is going on? It just, I don't know. Like it's hard seeing people in [00:28:00] hospital this time of year because we've been there. We know how bad it sucks. 

Rhandyl: Yeah. But I'm like you. I feel like a lot of I've, it's always, I feel I mean it's tragic anytime, but Yeah. I've personally had some, it just hits different. Some people that have flossed, loved ones children. Like just in the last few months and, oh, it's just yeah. I like, like you said, we know that we're fortunate to have a good mm-hmm. year. Good story. Yeah. Yeah. That's for sure. You just never know. 

I know. And for my lows, really the only biggest, the biggest low is I'm, we're Remi's still short night shift nursing, but so it's been, yeah. I've had a lot of I think I went, I wanna say it was like nine or 10 straight days without. Like sleeping in my own bed. Which, that included Christmas. And then yeah, no nursing for three or four, five days after we got home. Nights anyway. And so then I sleep in Remi's room on a couch. And so it was just [00:29:00] like I had to go to the chiropractor. I was, my back and neck were like so jacked up. And I just kept putting it off 'cause I'm like, it's just not gonna get better until I can sleep in, like in my own bed and actually sleep.

So it's just been. I've, it was a lot of fun, but I've also been like really exhausted through the holiday season because not only did we not have night shift nursing, my son's out of school too. Remi's out of school. The whole routine is just, it's just different. It's all good. But then, let's be honest, like it's hard sometimes when you're at home, like all day with your kids and then and then especially. Layers. Really not a lot of downtime. S 'cause my husband works a lot of nights, so like you I it's all on me. So I've got a monitor, on my son. And then of course Remi's got all the monitors. Yeah. But she's heavily monitored. Yeah.

And so you were talking about your New Year's Eve, so Yeah, I stayed up too late New Year's Eve. Maybe it was New Year's Day. One of those too late, but we didn't have a nurse, but I was just like. It'll be fine. And then she wakes up at 1:00 [00:30:00] AM and doesn't go back to sleep until 7:00 AM and I, yeah, so was up that whole night. And 'cause like when she's awake, oh my gosh, she's just like talking wide awake, like cracked out honestly is what it seems like. And but thankfully we had a day shift. Nurse and I crashed and went down to our basement and crashed.

Deonna: But that's a good place to take a nap. It is. But I'm gonna come over there.

Rhandyl: This is not great, but hey, I got some, I got a few hours of sleep. 

Deonna: There's a special kind of depressing when you're on a trip and so you haven't slept during that trip because it's very difficult to sleep on trips. Sure. And then you know, you're coming home to no nursing. To no nursing and you're like, oh my gosh. Like I am. Yeah. That was, it's crazy like how you can actually go. And I, like some of my night nurses have not been sleeping very much like they've been working a lot. Sure. And doing stuff like that and they're, it's like I was talking to one of 'em, I'm like, it's amazing how our [00:31:00] human bodies can handle not sleeping semi, but then they take I will have a full on MS. Relapse if I go too many nights in a row without sleep. Which like, I haven't had to do much lately. But it's just, yeah, it's. Sleep's kind of a big deal. It's important, but it's So what do you do?

Rhandyl: Yeah, we, yeah, that was, that's like really the only low I would say. Not the only, but the biggest one is just Yeah. That we, but on top of that low, we have recently, just within the last week, started training two new night shift nurses, so yay for us.

Deonna: Yeah, that's gonna be us too this week. Yay. It's like you, you don't like training, but then once they are trained, they make your life a thousand times better. Yeah. So it's like worth it. And you just suck it up and do it. Yeah. Yeah. It's Oh my goodness. Yeah, I know.

Rhandyl: Buffalo.

Deonna: Yes. Okay, so my Buffalo is me and Cole. One [00:32:00] of our kind of things we wanted to start doing, like I wanna have things I do with my son, because he's going into high school next year. He still thinks some fun. I dunno how long that's gonna last. I'm, you get like scared. They're gonna just not wanna be. Be with you anymore, but we, we have a good relationship, but you know what I mean? yeah. But for sure we decided we were gonna start playing tennis. We'd played pickleball a little bit and I like pickleball. It's fun. Yeah. I'm not that great at it, but I'm okay. But I. I was like, I used to play tennis with my friends, like messing around in high school. And he was like, I wish I could try. And so we hop in the car, we go to Target, we buy all the stuff rackets and we've been playing a lot and it's just nice because. It's, a workout for me. I'm trying to get stronger and, be in better shape. I'm probably in the best shape I've been in my entire adult life because I've just tried to [00:33:00] dedicate like a lot of time to it in the last six months. But it's just like a fun different way to go out and everything. But we take our speakers and we play all of our music and we sometimes you have to hop from court to court because they're taken or whatever, but, oh, yeah. We now, everywhere we're driving, we're like, is that a tennis court? But because we're not like bougie enough to pay for it or anything, but Sure. But yeah. That's funny. We've been playing a lot.

We made Allie go out with us yesterday. She was slightly annoyed. Initially she was having to go, but then we cranked up all her favorite music and she was like, she loved to scream fault at us when we would mess up our serves. So now she's into it. That's funny. Yeah, she's she likes to point out all of our faults, but how cute. But so we've been playing that a lot and that's been really fun thing for us to do and I love that.

Like as far as resolutions, like last year my resolution was to read 12 books because I wanted to start [00:34:00] reading. And I ended up reading like 44 and so Dang that became this like really fun hobby that I'll have forever. So it was, that's so cool. Cool. Really fun. Read a lot of trashy books. Can't really share which ones I read with the class. Nice. But yeah, it was really fun.

And then, but for this year I was, me and Cole are trying to learn Spanish. Like I took, three or four years of Spanish back in the day. But yeah, same. We're doing Duolingo together. Oh, nice. And are you liking that? It's a really good app, I've heard. Good. I like it. Okay. I think I'm gonna buy the actual, subscription to it. We've been doing the free one, but. Ali is doing it too. And this is so funny 'cause you can have like friend streaks where you keep up these streaks with the, like your, whoever's doing it with you. Yeah, me and Cole are doing Spanish and he's doing chess too. Like you can learn to play chess on there or like music, yeah. Lessons. Allie didn't wanna lose her friend streak, and she was feeling lazy.

So [00:35:00] Allie was taking English and I was like, ally, what? I was like, you're so lazy. You're taking English. And she's like, I'm good at that one. I was like I would hope so because you're fluent in it. So that's so funny. Are you learning hi and bye right now? What in the world? So yeah, we were like, you can't take English cheat because Cheerer. Oh, that's funny. I know she's such a cheater. But we've been doing that and it's been fun to get back into that. Yeah, because it just works your brain out a little bit, but for sure my,

I haven't made any super concrete goals about changing my entire personality or anything. I don't really like, I don't know if I can do that. I have been trying to just be. More unbothered. And we're really off, to a great start with that. But like Dane keeps making fun of me. 'cause I keep being like, oh, well what can you do? I don't care like about everything. It's like getting away from the trauma of the initial part. You're like. I feel like it's what it is. Feel the [00:36:00] system is regulating like a little bit, like I'm a little less just oh my gosh, about everything now on edge. Yeah. So I know that could reset at any moment, which my bad thing happening to me. 'cause that's the fun of our life. But yeah, I'm hoping to just be more unbothered in 2026. Just be like, oh, okay, whatever. But , what's your Buffalo 

Rhandyl: I, so me and New Year's resolutions, I, no, I don't, I They're not your thing. I just don't know. They're not my thing. But I will say, I. Tend to like, instead of spring clean. I typically do that like right after. And I think it's me too. It's just because I am putting up all of the Christmas garb and then I like see things you look around I didn't see before and yeah, so oh my goodness. Yeah, on the. I don't know. First and second, I went through every single closet in the house, every single drawer in the house. Collect like three huge trash bags [00:37:00] full of clothes and shoes and towels and all these things to donate. Mm-hmm. And then lots of boxes for the kids' consignment. I just did things like that. And I still, and I have a list of like, all these things that I wanna do.

So that's like my fresh start to the new year is just yeah, I feel like decluttering and you see all these reels of these wives that are, or, husbands are saying about their wives I've just learned, to keep the kitchen , counter clear. And then your wife's anxiety is just things like that. Yeah. So I'm just like, I'm just trying to. Declutter, get rid of junk, which I'm really good at doing that a couple times a year. But it just makes me feel so much better. And I feel like I don't have this cloud of stuff like hanging around,

Deonna: especially after they get all that stuff. Yeah, I, that's what I was like, Allie we have to clean out all the play craps so that new stuff can come in.

Rhandyl: I went through the playroom, made a huge box of donations for toys and all these. Stuffed animals. Ugh, don't get me started on stuffed animals. So I do so [00:38:00] funny, speaking of, I'll add this into my Buffalo.

Remi got this my mom and dad got her this sloth, which we always joke around that a sloth is Remi's. Like it's her spirit animal or something. Spirit animal. There you go. Spirit animal. Because. That's just the way she's been. She's just she's, she gets to whatever milestone or she gets to something, but it just takes her a lot longer. So anyway, it's always been a little, yeah. So she is always, we're always like getting her little sloth things, but my mom and dad found this like vibrating sloth that she can sleep with. And it is I didn't think she would care anything about it. 'cause she's had other like vibrating little stuffed animals and stuff that she doesn't really care about. It's soothing. But she like. Wraps her arms around this thing and passes smooth out and puts it on her head, holds it on her chest and it's not That's cool. Rechargeable. Oh, shoot. I, since Christmas have been through 10 AA batteries and I Oh, it takes batteries. Oh [00:39:00] my gosh. But we're gonna get the rechargeable kind. But I texted my mom the other day, I was like, just so you know, this. Sloth should have came with a year's worth of double As she was like, oh, she's sorry, not sorry, NayNay

No she was like, NayNay will get you some, but they make rechargeable batteries, so at least, they're a little pricey, but I think it would be worth it in the end. 'cause Oh my gosh. Yeah, we're going through. That's crazy. Yeah. But she loves it and and I like, especially the nights that I'm in the room with her and she's cuddled up with that thing, I'm like, there's no way I'm turning that thing off or even moving it. Nothing. Spend a thousand dollars on batteries. Yeah. Try to change it out. Like without you knowing. 'cause yeah, if you're sleeping, we're good. That's funny.

And then another fun thing that we did when we were back home for Christmas, one of my family our family friends basically family for, since I can remember. He was actually my boss when I was in high school. He's an architect since retired. But he. He's always been obsessed with like model trains and so he's turned his, [00:40:00] his architecture office building into, he has all these amazing train sets and some of them go through the walls and it's like he, and he's very like artistic and he is, does construction too. And so like he has made all these like. Mountains and like the paintings on 'em, it's just so intricate. Oh my gosh. And he's working, gosh, working more and more. It's like his like thing to do. In his retirement when he is not in Colorado at his cabin, he is working on his trains. And so he Wow.

And he does this whole Christmas setup scene during the holidays. That's cool. My when my brother and all of his kids were in town, and then it ended up being all of us. My all, both my siblings and all of our kids, we all got to go up there and he did, turned on all the trains and he did all the little tricks and switches and oh my gosh. The kids were just obsessed. And I didn't know what Remi would think about it because she sometimes she freaks out with sounds like. Yeah. If it's loud, high pitched, like [00:41:00] vacuum type. And so I was like, oh, as soon as he started the trains I was like, oh no, she's gonna freak out. But she did not, she loved it. Like she was just all smiles and happy hands the whole time. Standing up, crawling around, like walking around with us, holding her hands. Like she, because she like, she could see it. It was like at level other level or they were on the ground. Yeah. He has 'em all like kid eye level, like waist high.

Mm-hmm. , He has, I think he has one that goes up around the top. But yeah, it was so cool. Everybody was obsessed, so that was and that was right before we left. Like we had the car loaded. We were about to head out town and we stopped there before we left. So it was like the grand finale. It was awesome. 

Deonna: That's cool. I saw videos of them with those trains. I was wondering if that was like somebody you were related just has it to, or Yeah, 

Rhandyl: he just has That's cool. In his, that's, I know he opens it up every once in a while for, kids in town and stuff, but that's cool. Yeah. So that was our little. [00:42:00] Buffalo. That's neat. My buffalo fur. To end the holiday recap, 

Deonna: one of our nurses gave us a train themed game. It was called Ticket to Ride, and me and Cole are now obsessed with this game. It's like Monopoly, but you're basically buying like train tracks and you're trying to get the most train tracks or whatever. Oh. And I didn't even know what it was or anything. And now Cole, every day's like, you wanna play that train game? I'm like, that's so funny because 

Rhandyl: Sure Barrett, we got him, he got for Christmas, two games, High Ho Cherry O and Candy Land. Oh, I remember that game. And every day after school that's, he goes and gets, he's okay, we're gonna play this. And just every single night we're playing multiple rounds of those two games. And I'm like, think, Hi Ho Cherry O 

Deonna: was fun. It was fun. I remember that. It's fun from when I was in school as a little kid and then I had, my kids had it too, so that's a fun one. But yeah, that's a cute little game. You gotta [00:43:00] play some games during the holidays,

so yeah, that's just what we were up to since we last talked to you guys. And, we got together and planned out about till July of what we're gonna do. And we have so many fun people that we're gonna talk to. One of our goals for this season was to talk to more disabled adults to get there. Perspective and, their memories of their childhood and what their parents did and like some things like that. And so we're really excited about that.

We have a really fun dumb things people say that's gonna be planned for this year. And so we just have so many fun parents lined up. It's gonna be really good. We are making some changes. And we're really excited about those. And so it's gonna be just a lot of fun. And we're so thankful for everybody who listens to this and who follows us on social media and comments and [00:44:00] interacts with us and participates because that's how we do this. There's no other way to do it without you guys.

And we're so thankful for you guys, and we hope everybody had a really great. Holiday break and everything and has a good week back to school if that's what you're doing this week. Like us. Yeah. And so I have to start waking up early again. I'm like, I know. Oh my God, I'm dreading it. I slept until 10 the other day, which I never do. And 

Rhandyl: you definitely don't have a toddler. 

Deonna: No, I do not. I do not. That's nice. And my nurse was like, I was like, did you think I was dead? She's I was starting to wonder if you were alive, but that's awesome. Yeah. She won't be wondering that on Wednesday. 'cause I'll be up. Yeah. 

Anyway. Yeah. But we hope y'all had a happy New Year and we will see you next time.

**Disclaimer

Before we go, I wanna remind our listeners that this podcast is for the purpose of education and entertainment only, and is not a replacement for seeing a doctor. We suggest you seek out the help of a trained professional for help with your child's specific situation.