21 Weeks/Christmas 2010

Me and the babies @ 21 weeks at the Bean--

21 Weeks--
It's hard to believe that I have already made it this far. Seems like time is just flying!! This last week has probably been the hardest week I have had since getting pregnant. Lots of pain from the rib I have out of place has made life interesting. It's hard to get comfortable at any point and time during the day, and sleep is pretty much just a nap here and a nap there...even when taking Benadryl or my pain pills. (which both normally knock me flat on my tail end!) I feel like I constantly have ants in my pants b/c I am changing positions every 5 minutes it seems like to get comfy. Oh well, such is life, and hopefully, with the holidays being over and being able to get back into a routine with the chiropractor, I will be able to get the pain under control. We had a great time in Chicago, and thankfully, for the most part, my back didn't bother me, except while we were on the airplane to and from Chicago and we won't talk about how that went...

I still haven't felt the little boogers move...anxiously awaiting that day! As far as appetite, I am now hungry all the time, but am only able to eat small meals b/c I get full really fast. We found this place in Chicago called Yolk and we ate breakfast there on Sunday and Monday...the babies and I were in heaven! It was delicious food, especially the cinnamon roll french toast. I don't even want to know what the scale says tomorrow when I go to the doctor, however, I was reading a book this weekend about multiple pregnancies, and it said that with multiples you should gain half to a little more than half of your pregnancy weight by the time you are 22-24 weeks, so if that's the case, I don't think I'm doing too bad so far.

Billy and I were talking about all the fun stuff that the babies have already gotten to do and they aren't even here yet! They've survived an entire football season, been to Disney World, been on several road trips, and now they've been to a Bears game, been to Wrigley Field, and have seen all kinds of fun sites in Chicago!! I'm very thankful that I have plenty of pictures of all these adventures to be able to share with them when they are older.

Christmas 2010--
We had my parents, my sister and my grandma over for dinner on Christmas Eve and exchanged gifts. We drew names this year, and am pretty sure that we will continue to do it that way. It's so much less expensive and then there's not the stress of buying for a ton of people. My sister had my name and she got me a gift certificate to Brush with Art. Can't wait to use it!!!! :) Billy and I also exchanged our stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve since we had to leave for the airport @ 4:30 the next morning!! Billy got me a tripod for my camera b/c it makes him crazy to walk in the living room and see all the things that I have stacked up to get my camera at the right height to be able to take my weekly/bi-weekly belly pictures. He also got me some warm and fuzzy house shoes. I got him 2 books and some fuzzy socks b/c he is always trying to steal mine!!! It was a good low key night with my family and then we furiously packed to head to Chicago.

Christmas morning our flight left @ 5:50 am...the things you do to yourself to save money!! The flights up there weren't bad at all, and we got to our hotel without any problems. We stayed at the Chicago Hilton were President Obama had all of his inauguration stuff, and where they filmed part of Home Along 2. It was really nice and a very convenient place to stay. That night we went to dinner with J'Marcus and his mom and brother. It was fun to get to talk to him and catch up on things. He is doing really well and is enjoying being in Chicago. After that, we went back to the hotel and crashed b/c we were exhausted from having gotten up so early.

Sunday morning we put on all of our layers and headed to Yolk for breakfast, ran back to our hotel to give Colby and Sarah some extra clothes to put on (since only 1 of their 3 bags made it to Chicago...) and then we walked over to Soldier Field. It was a great game and we had a blast. It snowed off and on throughout the game, and even though it was cold (the wind chill was only 10 most of the game), it wasn't near as windy as we thought, so it wasn't near as miserable as we expected it to be. The Bears played well and it was a great win. It was fun to see the LSC so well represented. 4 of the Bears 22 starters are former LSC players. After the game we went to the family room to hang out with J'Marcus for a little while, and then we walked back to the hotel. By the time we got back to the hotel, I needed a nap, so I took a nap and then we went and got dinner and hung out before heading downtown for a little while. We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory, where we got our cheesecake to go and then came back to the hotel and devoured it!!! :) I felt like our eating schedule was off the whole time we were there b/c we would eat breakfast about 9 and then not eat again until 4 or so, and then by the time it was time to go to bed, I was starving again...

Monday we got up and ate at Yolk again and then went to the Field Museum. This is the museum that they made the first Night at the Museum movie at. It was really cool, and I would love to be able to take our kids back there someday. We got to see Sue, the T-Rex skeleton, that they have there. It's the most complete T-Rex skeleton in the world. We spent several hours in there and then went to Millenium Park to watch the ice skaters and go see the Bean. I have been to the Bean before, but Billy hadn't, so we went and took pictures there, and then as we were getting ready to cross the street, we randomly ran into our friend Dana, who is from Chicago and home for Christmas, and her boyfriend. It was good to see her and I love little random run ins like that. After a quick stop for some hot chocolate, we took the train down to Wrigley field and took pictures and then went back to the Navy Pier where we walked around for awhile, did some window shopping, and then had dinner. After that, I was done in, so we went back to the hotel and I put on my pajamas, and after he hung out with me for awhile, Billy went back downtown and met up with Colby, Sarah, Dana and Mark.

Our flight left @ 8 on Tuesday morning, so we didn't get to do anything on Tuesday, but overall it was a great trip. I was telling my friend Joi tonight, it was nice to just have Billy's (mostly) undivided attention for a few days and not have job/player/football/recruiting stress/drama constantly at the fore front of our conversation. I am struggling with my attitude about that right now, so if you think about it, say a prayer for me and my attitude! I'm just not in the mood to share these days...

Billy and the Chicago skyline

Billy and I with J'Marcus after the game. (He always makes me feel so tiny...I LOVE it!!!)

Sarah and Colby with J'Marcus afterwards...wish I had a picture of Sarah's hat she wore at the game...it is the best ever!

The big blow up that the players run out of before the games.

I have lots more pictures, but will have to do a separate post for those b/c I don't have time to upload them right now. Hope everyone has a blessed Christmas, and hopefully I'll have new pictures of the twins tomorrow that I can post along with more Chicago pictures.

19 Weeks

Wow...can't believe that in all reality I am most likely already past the halfway point!!! Doesn't seem like it's been that long. (but seems like it is taking forever also!!) Some high points/low points this week:
-my feet are still swelling like CRAZY, but the horrible rash I have stays under control as long as I am diligent to take my Benadryl every six hours. (which definitely helps in the sleeping better department...)
-My mom has almost got their blankets finished so that we can ship them to Billy's mom to quilt for us.
-I got to see their sweet faces last week at my doctors appointment and they looked great. So far they are measuring right where they should be and are pretty much the same size.
-I discovered some pants in the back of my closet that I had forgotten about that are quite comfy and work quite well with my belly band.
-Found out that another friend of mine is expecting a baby in June...so excited for her!
-I found an ornament to represent this Christmas perfectly.
-We leave for Chicago in a week and a half...SO excited, although, I hope there is a little less snow for that game than there was for the game this past Sunday.
-I haven't felt the babies move yet, which I must admit, I am getting very anxious for. Seems like that is the next step in the progression of things, so I am antsy for it to hurry up and get here.
-I actually started my registry @ Target this week...only has a few things on it, but they are things that I have been looking a long time for and so when I found them, I just went ahead and added them so that I wouldn't have to hunt for them.
-I finished my Dave Ramsey class @ church this week. I would highly recommend that class to any and everyone I know no matter how old, young, rich or poor. SUCH a blessing for me.

That's about all the excitement that has gone on around here. We did get our bedroom furniture in and are in LOVE with it. We are debating whether or not to get rid of the box springs. The issue is that we have drawers underneath the bed, so the box springs are a good 12 inches higher off the ground than they previously were and although I can get in the bed now, I can just see me trying to get myself into bed 3 months from now...definitely probably going to be a moment for America's Funniest Home Videos! Now to find the perfect bedding for it and we will actually have a grown up bedroom instead of a hodge podge group of furniture.

Now to see how much organizing I can get done before my Benadryl for the night kicks in!!! :) Have a blessed week.

17 Weeks

How Far Along: 17 weeks
Size of Babies: 5 ounces and about the size of the palm of my hand
Wt. Gain/Loss: According to the scales at work, I gained 2 of the 22 I have lost back this last week which is a victory for me!
Clothes: Still in pre-pregnancy shirts and dresses, but maternity pants and the scrubs are getting less and less comfortable...
Gender: A boy and a girl
Movement: Haven't felt them move yet, but hoping to soon. I told Billy on the way to the airport this morning that hopefully they'll be moving where he can feel them by the time he gets back. He's on the road for 2 weeks straight. :(
What I Miss: Having energy...drinking endless amounts of Crystal Light
Sleep: Not so good this week. Only sleeping for 4-5 hours at a time and then I am up for at least a couple of hours...
Symptoms: headaches
Cravings/Dislikes: Chips and Hot Sauce and Crab Legs (thus we went to Red Lobster last night to celebrate my birthday so that I could get crab legs!!)
Best Moment: Having my hubby home to hang out with this week and talk about our hopes and dreams for these precious babies.

I took Billy to the airport this morning to fly to Mississippi to start recruiting. I'm bummed that he is going to be gone for 2 weeks straight, but thankful that he has a job and that we aren't on the job hunt right now. Thanksgiving was good. We had my family over and a couple of guys. We didn't set anything on fire (although I did come close with the first round of marshmallows on the sweet potatoes...) and it was pretty stress free. I work Thursday night and Saturday night. Kind of a glimpse into what is to come as far as my schedule goes after the first of the year and having split days. We are supposed to be getting our dresser and chest of drawers today and then hopefully our bed and night stand will be here in the next 2 weeks. (figures it would all come while Billy is out of town...) I'm just ready to get it in. How sad is it that I had to go back to the store where we got it the other day to look at it to remember what it looks like b/c it's been so long since we ordered it. We bought it the same weekend we found out I was pregnant which was 13 weeks ago!! Craziness!!! All of my Christmas is up minus making a garland for the window in the living room, finding something for one last shelf and re-doing my wreath on my front door. It's nice to be able to just relax today. I am going to go watch a movie and enjoy just being a bum!

Doctor's Appointment

I had my regular OB checkup this morning and he said everything looks good with both the babies and that they are right on track for where they should be. He did say that he's going to want to do another detailed sono down the road to look at Hannah's face b/c we never got a good look at it, but that he really didn't think that there was any sign of a cleft lip. He made it official today is saying that I am not going to be able to travel anymore after the end of January, so hopefully I'll get both of my girls weekends in before then. He limited me to no more than 1/2 a mile of walking a day (as far as for exercise purposes) and said that if everything stays on track like it is right now, that there's no reason I shouldn't be able to carry the babies to term.

Billy didn't get to come with me this time b/c they are getting ready for Central Missouri, but he got to go on Monday and see the sono, so he made the important appointment. I finished buying the material for their bedding yesterday. I can't wait to start putting it all together. Hopefully I'll get to get started on it soon. Right now I have to go iron Billy's pants for team pictures today...

15 Weeks...

Pardon the pajamas and bad hair...we were getting ready to head to bed when I remembered to make Billy take my picture.

How Far Along: 15 weeks
Size of Babies: According to the sono today, both babies are measuring right @ 15 weeks. Brady (Twin A) is 4 ounces and Hannah (Twin B) is 3 ounces.
Wt. Gain/Loss: As of last Wednesday, I am down 22 pounds...don't really have much of an appetite these days despite knowing food is a necessity.
Clothes: Shirts and dresses I am still wearing my regular clothes, but am wearing maternity pants (except in my scrubs). I don't want ANYTHING touching my stomach right now...
Gender: Twin A is a boy (William Brady) and Twin B is a girl (Hannah Joy)
Movement: Haven't felt them moving yet, but I can tell that my bladder is most definitely being used as a trampoline!!! They were going crazy this morning when I had my sono. The tech wanted to know what I had had to eat/drink before I came in b/c they were bouncing off the walls!!
What I Miss: The desire to eat food. I have no appetite and so even though I eat all the time, I don't enjoy it.
Sleep: Seems like it's all I do if I'm not at work.
Symptoms: Tired and having to pee all the time.
Cravings/Dislikes: Not really enjoying food in general right now as I said before. Hoping that soon I will once again have an appetite.
Best Moment of the Week: Finding out what they were and laughing at my lopsided stomach as they both crowded over to one side last week!

Brady was more than happy to show off for the camera. Billy said, "He's kicked back, watching the game, with his hand in his crotch!" 90% of the time we were watching him he was laying with his hand on his man parts, and then when we were looking at Hannah, everytime she peeked back over at him on the ultrasound, he was laying like that. It was so funny.

Miss Hannah played shy and stubborn today! It took the tech forever to be able to even get a good shot of her face, which was the whole reason we were there. For the most part, she had her hands up by her face, or she was waving at us. For probably the first 2 or 3 minutes we were trying to look at her, she was face down with her face buried. I'm quite certain that she will have her daddy wrapped around those precious little fingers in no time!




I go for my actual doctor's appointment on Wednesday. We'll find out the official results then, but the tech said, from everything she saw, neither baby has a cleft lip, and everything else looks to be right on track for 15 weeks. You could see both placentas, and we saw both umbilical cords along with all the major organs, so that was reassuring. Now to get started on getting their bedding made and getting their room put together. First on the list is the Christmas decorations though! This is the only time I'm going to have Billy home for awhile, so you better believe that I am going to put him to work!!!

Snap Happy...

So I got just a tad snap happy on Saturday!! Took 800 pictures at the game on Saturday. :) Hopefully my computer will cooperate when I get home from the doctor today and I can do a football update and an update on the munchkins...

14 Weeks

I don't have a picture this week b/c I haven't seen my husband long enough to get him to take one, and I can't get the camera set up right to do it with just the timer. Hopefully I can't get him to take one this evening and I'll post it then.
How Far Along: 14 weeks
Size of Babies: A lemon-we go for our detailed sono next Monday, so hopefully they measure close in size again.
Wt. Gain/Loss: I've lot 20 pounds so far...I've been maintaining for the last 2 weeks
Clothes: Shirts and dresses I am still wearing my regular clothes, but am wearing maternity pants (except in my scrubs). I don't want ANYTHING touching my stomach right now...
Gender: Don't know yet...hoping we find out Monday when we go for our sono
Movement: Haven't felt them moving yet, but I can tell that my bladder is most definitely being used as a trampoline!!!
What I Miss: The desire to eat food. I have no appetite and so even though I eat all the time, I don't enjoy it.
Sleep: Seems like it's all I do if I'm not at work.
Symptoms: Tired and having to pee all the time.
Cravings/Dislikes: Not really enjoying food in general right now as I said before. Hoping that soon I will once again have an appetite.
Best Moment of the Week: Taking the babies to Disney World for their first trip this past Wednesday. Really wanted to get something cute for them while we were there, but everything was very much either boy or girl...nothing that really could go either way.

WT vs. Midwestern

To say that these two teams don't like each other would be an understatement. The strong dislike starts at the coaching staff and works it's way down. I have to say, I was really proud of our guys last night. There was some scuffling going on, but overall, I thought our guys carried themselves well. Midwestern, not so much, as evidenced by the 4 unsportsmanlike calls. Most importantly we won and are now 6-2. We have 3 games left in the regular season...it would be awesome if we could win out from here on out. We have to play ACU still, which will definitely be a tough game, but first up with have Incarnate Word. We play them next weekend in San Antonio. My family is making a road trip of it to see my dad's sister who lives in San Antonio.

I took pictures down on the field last night, and it was tons of fun...well, except when the buffalo was headed straight at me...but I moved after that and it was a very enjoyable experience. I got some good pictures and managed to survive walking from the field to the top of the stadium to go to the bathroom!!! (Although I thought I was going to have to stop for oxygen on the way!!!) Here's some pictures from the game and a few from previous games this year...

Scratch that...just posting my favorite picture from last night and then I'll have to put the rest of them on facebook...blogger is being stubborn tonight, and I don't have the patience to mess with it tonight.

This is Shaun Wesley, our left tackle. Just thought this was a fun profile picture. Check facebook for the rest of the pics later this week.

12 Weeks

How Far Along: 12 weeks
Size of Babies: A large plum (they measured within 2 days of each other on Wednesday...with baby A being the bigger of the 2)
Wt. Gain/Loss: I've lot 20 pounds so far...hopefully I won't lose anymore!
Clothes: Shirts and dresses I am still wearing my regular clothes, but am wearing maternity pants (except in my scrubs). I don't want ANYTHING touching my stomach right now...
Gender: Don't know yet...maybe we'll find out in 3 weeks when I go for my in depth sono.
Movement: Haven't felt them moving yet, but I can tell that my bladder is most definitely being used as a trampoline!!!
What I Miss: Crystal Light and Diet Citrus Green Tea
Sleep: Seems like it's all I do if I'm not at work.
Symptoms: Nausea 24/7 (but not actually sick, thank goodness!), Tired, and having to pee all the time.
Cravings/Dislikes: I've been really craving fruit this last week and the thought of eating meat or hummus turn my stomach, although I have been choking down meat and am hoping hummus sounds good again soon b/c I absolutely love it most days.
Best Moment of the Week: Watching/Hearing/Reading everyone else go through their own version of shock just like we did on Wednesday at the doctor finding out that it was twins and getting to see both babies and their precious little heart beats on Wednesday.

Baby A (the one on the left)


Baby B (the one on the right)

I can't figure out how to turn the sono pictures around...sorry. Baby A's picture has the baby and then the 4D of the baby. Looks like we have a little boxer on our hands...

I think that some of the shock is starting to wear off...maybe! It still seems surreal anytime I am talking about the babies and say "they or their". We were comparing bellies at work the other night between myself and several other girls and I just had to laugh that I am already as big or bigger than the girls who are 8 weeks further along than I am! We started re-thinking the nursery this weekend and I started cleaning out the office which will become the nursery over Christmas. Thankfully we have great family members who are passing down cribs, so we already have 2 cribs and don't have to worry about that. Now to just pick the right shade of lime green for the walls. The bedding will be different black and white patterns, lime green, and then for a girl pink and for a boy turquoise/orange. If we have 2 girls we will probably do one pink and one purple and then one turquoise and one orange for 2 boys.

I still need to do a post about football season so far, so I am going to end this here and hopefully I'll get Billy trained a little better before next week, so that my weekly picture looks a little better!!

Twins...

Twins...really??? Did I really see two sweet babies yesterday when I went to the doctor?? If you can't guess, I am still in a little bit of shock. Billy on the other hand is totally stoked about it all! :) That's good though b/c his excitement has kept me from getting totally overwhelmed by the thoughts of what is in store for us.

What a huge blessing these sweet babies are. My ultimate goal in life has always been to be a wife and a mom. There were days in college where I didn't care if I graduated with a degree, I just wanted to find Mr. Right and get married and have lots of babies. To say that I am excited about these babies is an understatement. It was SO much fun to share their little pictures with everyone at work last night and to watch everyone else go through some form of the same kind of shock that we went through yesterday!

My prayer right now is that a: I have a safe and healthy full-term pregnancy. b: That I would not let Satan over take my heart and mind with worry, but take comfort in the fact that if God didn't think we could handle twins and all that comes with being parents to twins, then he wouldn't have blessed us with them to begin with.

On a different note: My friend Erin talked about her hubby getting her a sideline pass for one game and how much fun she had taking pictures down on the field...well, she inspired me to convince Billy to let me be down on the field this weekend to take pictures (although I have to admit there wasn't much convincing going on...I asked and he quickly said yes...). So this Saturday I will have my usual seat at the stadium, but I will also be roaming the sidelines for part of the game with specific instructions to stay far, far away from the buffalo!!! :)

And 2 become 4...what????

Well, I went to the doctor today and had my first appointment. He put the ultrasound wand on my stomach and my heart rate immediately went through the roof...see, I've been having these dreams for weeks now that I was having twins, but I haven't really been sick so I've been telling myself that there's no way I could possibly be having twins. Well, never say never! When he put the ultrasound wand on my stomach, I instantly saw two babies with two little heartbeats. So First Down has now been renamed the "Flex Twins". Definitely still in shock. I can't quit laughing. Billy and I just look at each other and we start laughing!

I go for another sonogram on November 15 b/c Dr. D wants to do a more detailed one of both babies since I had a cleft palate and it is something that can be passed down from generation to generation. There's not anything to do about it until after they are born, but at least if we know we can already be set up with a plastic surgeon.

As soon as I figure out how to, I will post the sono pictures. What a relief to finally be able to see them and to be able to see their little heartbeats and know that everything is going just like it is supposed to.

Emotional Roller Coaster

The last 24 hours have been hard. We had Kendrick's (our football player who died 2 weeks ago) memorial service and let me just tell ya...it is an absolutely helpless feeling to sit and watch these big tough football players cry their eyes out remembering and missing a friend. I wanted to wrap every one of them up in a hug and not let go. It was SOOOOO hard. I am praying that they are able to focus tonight for the game as we will be honoring Kendrick at halftime and Tanner, his roommate and our back-up QB, will be wearing his jersey along with his parents being there to watch. That's lots to ask of a bunch of 18-22 year old guys. I know in my heart though, that they will play hard for Kendrick.

Tracy W. text me this morning, and Kodi's cancer is now progressive. Basically that means that it is not responding to chemo. The tumor on her spine is once again back and it continues to grow in her bones. Needless to say, I have spent lots of time on my face in prayer and tears. The fix it character in my personality wants so badly to be able to just wave my wand and this to all be over.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:28-29

There is hope in this verse. Our FCA pastor who did Kendrick's service used this verse, and it is very applicable to both situations. I have to hang on to this verse and know that God is being glorified through all these circumstances even when it doesn't feel like it.

The joys of morning sickness

I must say, my morning sickness hasn't been too bad...however, mine doesn't hit me until I have been up about 4 hours or so and then it's pretty much non-stop until I go to bed. I am mostly just nauseous and then I usually have about a 20 minute period every evening where I seriously debate whether I am going to lose my dinner to not, but so far I haven't thrown up. I don't mind being nauseous as long as I don't throw up!! I am also a lot more tired this week than I have been. Not getting to sleep by like 2 1/2 hours last Friday really did me in. Thankfully I knew ahead of time I was going to be short on sleep and one of the girls at work volunteered to come in and work the 2nd half of my shift for me. Otherwise, I don't think I would have made it home Saturday morning, and there's no way I would have made it to the game on Saturday night.

We told my parents today and we mailed Billy's mom and step-dad's frame to them today. They should get it by the end of the week. We had originally said that we weren't going to tell until after we had been to the doctor, but we couldn't wait. It is killing Billy that his family doesn't know yet, because we know that his mom is going to be ecstatic!!! Hopefully she will catch on to what the pictures mean quicker than my parents did...I had to explain to my parents what the pictures meant. I made signs that said "Mimi & Papa--I can't wait to meet you in May." My dad thought it was a sign from the dogs saying they were coming to stay for awhile in May!! LOL Even after they saw the picture of the positive pregnancy test they still didn't get it. I just had to laugh. Of course they and my sister are so excited. I have to admit, it was nice to be able to sit down and talk and be excited about it with my mom. These are pictures of the signs that we made to tell our parents. I realized today that I go to the doctor 5 weeks from tomorrow, so that's really not that bad. It doesn't feel quite so far away as it did when we first found out.



Here's to another week down. Can't believe that I'll only be 7 weeks on Friday...it seems like it was such a long time ago that we found out!!

Stream of Consciousness

The title is really just to cover up the fact that I am so tired right now, I don't know if I could write an entire post that made logical sense!! :) It's been a BORING week at work this week. We only have 2 patients, and while I am thankful that no one else has children sick enough to need our services, it has been next to impossible to keep myself awake the last two nights. Last night I walked laps around the unit for 45 minutes straight trying to keep myself awake and then almost fell asleep walking!

I can't believe that it's already the weekend. I am ready for Satruday and to get to play with my new camera lense. The pictures I took at practice were pretty sweet. The guys are coming over for dinner tomorrow. Billy is a little nervous b/c he is going to have to do the dinner by himself b/c I will be at work. I don't know what he is nervous about, because I will have everything ready for them when I leave for work. It's not like he's going to have to actually cook anything!

I can't wait for my new housekeeper to start. I did the dusting and floors today, and it didn't take long at all, but I was totally bummed to think about the fact that if I still had a housekeeper, I could have let her do that and slept that extra hour! :)

I have tried to read a book the last two nights, but it just isn't happening. I am too tired to even try. We'll see if I am able to have a conversation this morning for my meeting. Totally bummed that I have a meeting and then have to come back to work tonight b/c there is definitely the potential for me to be a total zombie tonight. Thanksfully I will only be here for 1/2 a shift, so hopefully I'll miss that point of exhaustion tomorrow night.

The kids are excited that they get to come overan dplay with Rocky and Boudreaux tomorrow afternoon while I am cooking. They have been begging to take them walking all week, and the weather has just not cooperated, but no matter what they get to play with them today because I am taking them to my house to stay until Amy gets home so that I can cook and clean and continue to get stuff ready for dinner.

Well, I am falling asleep writing this, so I guess that means it is time to get up and walk some more laps.

Peace and Chicken Grease!

My Life is now complete!!!

I am now officially ready for football season to start. I got my new telephoto lens today!!! I am so excited. I can't wait to try it out this weekend when we play in Weatherford. I am debating going to practice tonight at the stadium just to see what kind of pictures I can get from my normal seat...I probably will go, just for the heck of it.

It's been a crazy week here. I left on Sunday afternoon as soon as I got up (no, I wasn't being lazy, I worked Saturday night...) and headed to Sanger to hang out with the Tutts for the weekend. It was good to see them and spend time with them. Yesterday, Tracy and Tracy ran errands and the girls and I just stayed at the house and hung out. It was nice to have just a low key day. We went to watch Maegan at soccer practice and then out to dinner, but really nothing too exciting. This morning I dropped Maegan off at school and headed home. I drove home in some CRAZY rain, but it didn't last too long which was nice. I ran by Sams and got food for our dinner for the guys on Friday and then came home, unloaded groceries and had time for a quick 20 minute nap before I went and picked J and L up from school.

I work, tomorrow, Thursday, and half of Friday and then Saturday morning I am headed to Weatherford, OK to see Amy and Ashley and the kids and hopefully watch my Buffs beat up on some Bulldogs.

Guess I should get off of here and get to cleaning my house since it looks like a tornado blew through here and we have company coming on Friday. Hope everyone has a great week and I will post pictures from the game on Sunday.

Prayers Please

Please be praying for our football team. One of our players, who was medical red shirting this year, was on his way home to Austin for Labor Day yesterday and was killed when he rolled his truck. There was also a WT soccer player with him. Please be praying for the Cutsinger family. Kendrick was loved by everyone and several of his roommates and best friends are on the team this year. Please be praying also for the soccer player. I don't know his name, but I know he is from Venezuela and he is still in critical condition in a hospital in Austin.

An answer to prayer is that Kodi got to go home this week, and our friend Cali is doing amazing! She is in rehab and improving everyday. Please continue to remember these families as well.

It has hit...

The morning sickness is in full swing around here. It's not bad, but it's definitely there. It's worse today because on top of the morning sickness, I have my normal game day nervous stomach that is of course worse b/c I am not actually at the game, but watching from the sidelines at work...hopefully! It's been crazy how weird it has felt to be pregnant so far. I know you are probably thinking...okay Jenn, you're only gonna be 5 weeks tomorrow how weird could it really be, but seriously, knowing what's going on in my body right now is just crazy to think about!! I have loved every minute of it so far, including almost puking at the gas pump the other day b/c of the smell of gas. October 20 needs to hurry up at get here fast b/c I am getting impatient. The girls whose kids I keep after school is also pregnant, but b/c of her age, she got to go to the doctor yesterday instead of having to wait. I have to admit, I was so jealous listening to her talk about her appointment today. I can't wait to hear the heart beat and see my sweet baby for the first time. I can't even imagine all the emotions that will come with that day.

It's Here!!!!

Football season is officially here. We are done with the madness of two-a-days and we officially start our season tomorrow night. The guys left this morning for Michigan. Just got a text from Billy that they had landed. I'm bummed that I am not there, but I couldn't justify taking off the whole week of work and also making this trip, plus going to Orlando in November. Too much money!! Plus, we just bought bedroom furniture this weekend, so there went a good chunk of play money for awhile. Instead I am going to head to Sanger this weekend to see Tracy and Tracy and the girls. Hopefully Kodi will get to go home today. She had a really hard time with mouth sores this round of chemo, but the docs decided not to give this particular chemo to her anymore as the side effects outweigh the benefits. Nothing else too exciting going on around here. I'm taking a break from paying bills and balancing the checkbook!! Yuck!! Two of my least favorite things to have to do ever!!

Summer is officially coming to an end around here. We are putting the top back on the Jeep...mostly b/c it rained yesterday afternoon while we were sitting in the pick-up line waiting on L, so J and I got wet. I told Billy last night that when he gets back from Michigan, the top has to go back on before he can go back to work!! Hopefully he's down with that plan b/c I am done with the wind blown look for awhile.

Well, my timer went off, so I guess that means playtime is over and back to work...I'll upload some pictures soon. I am LOVING my new camera!!

And 2 become 3!!!!

Well, it's official, we are going to have a baby this spring. We just found out yesterday and I am only about 4 weeks, so at this point we aren't telling anyone. (Which may be one of the hardest things I have ever done!!!) We aren't going to say anything to anyone, including our families, until after my first appointment, and that is not until October 20. I am kind of bummed that we have to wait that long, but hopefully with it being football season I will be really preoccupied and have plenty of other things to think about to keep my mind busy between now and then. We are both really excited. I am still a little shell shocked I think, because this is the first month that we actually tried, and I definitely wasn't expecting it to be a one and done kind of thing. We are proof though that you can get pregnant during 2 a days!!! So far I am feeling good. No nausea yet (hoping it doesn't ever come!!!), but I am definitely a lot more tired than I normally am.

I originally didn't think I was pregnant because I had taken a test on Friday and it was negative. So I was bummed, but thought to myself, it's just one month, not that big of a deal we'll just try again in September. Well then I woke up Sunday and hadn't started my period which is VERY weird for me. I am like clock work on my cycles and have been for a long time. So while I was in Amarillo Sunday afternoon, I got some pregnancy tests from Dollar Tree (was a little nervous about using a cheap pregnancy test, but I'm sold on them now) and took one and lo and behold it was positive. I started freaking out a little bit and doing a little happy dance. Then I went with another one of the coach's wives to watch practice. I wanted so badly to tell Billy right after practice when we were walking back to campus, but I didn't b/c there were lots of players/coaches around and I wanted it to be special. (In the mean time, I have called/texted some of my dearest friends who have been praying for me about having a baby for a long time, to make sure that I remembered correctly from nursing school and that there was very little chance that a positive pregnancy test would be wrong and they have all responded with excitement and reassurance that I am in fact really pregnant.) Just to be sure before I told Billy, I took 2 more tests and they both came up positive so I VERY anxiously waited for midnight thirty when he would be home. I had made Billy this really cute picture from that says I heart daddy on the bottom of it and I was going to write something cute and put it in the frame to tell him, but I didn't get by the pottery place before it closed on Saturday, and they aren't open on Mondays so I had to come up with a plan B because I was too excited to wait until Tuesday to tell him when I could get the frame. I ran to Wal-Mart and bought as gender neutral of a onesie as I could and a little bib that says I Love Daddy on the front of it and gave them to him along with a card. He's excited and having almost as hard of time as I am not saying anything to anyone. He did tell Coach Carthel today, and then when he told Coach he couldn't say anything to anyone until October, Coach told him that that's was going to be a mighty hard secret to keep, especially because I haven't told Cindy yet!! I told a friend today, May (which is when I am due) seems so far off!!! I know that the time will just fly by, but right now it seems lightyears away!

I saw my regular family doctor today, just for a well check, and I made sure to ask her and also my OB's office about special diet concerns with the vegan diet, and from what I had written down over the last 5 days in my food journal, Dr. B. looked at it and said as long as I was taking my prenatal vitamin that I am good.

Guess since it's 11:00pm I should be hitting the sack. Kind of hard to turn the excited switch off in my brain though!!

Prayers...

Please be praying for our coaching friends Jake and Cali. Cali had her surgery yesterday and it took 26+ hours. She didn't go to recovery until around 11 this morning. Pray for rest and recovery for her and also that her family could get some rest today. I know they are all exhausted after the last day and a half.

Also, please continue to pray for Kodi. She is currently inpatient for chemo. So far it's going well, but she has to stay confined to her room for this round and that is hard!!!

Have a blessed hump day!

Vegan...to be or not to be...

Well, it's been two weeks, and I have to say, I think it's working!!! I don't feel 100% myself again, but I definitely feel better and feel more like myself than I have in months. Hopefully this means I am making a step in the right direction. The hardest part of the week has been to pass up all the food that patients' families bring us. I have to admit that when they brought us homemade noodles and egg rolls I gave into the temptation...but then I paid for it later. I know that that will get easier with time.
This is one of my new favorite finds. It is great in oatmeal, and makes great sweet tea without as many calories.
And of course, what would summer be without lemonade in mason jars!!!!!
And one last picture just for fun. Maycee, my sister's dog, is a poser!!! You can definitely tell that her mama takes pictures of her all the time, b/c unlike my boys who don't sit still long enough for a picture, she is an angel...I took this the other day when she came to spend the night. I love her blue bows!


P.S. Friday needs to hurry up and get here!!!

Summer Rain...

The last two evenings it has rained in the evening. Just a good slow steady rain. It has been wonderful. We cracked open the windows, and enjoyed the smell...one of my favorite smells by the way...

This week has been good. I finally had some days off on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday was just what I needed...to chill out while painting some pottery. Such a stress reliever. Then after my meeting at work, I got to go to dinner w/ Billy and the Ficklings. I can already tell that I am going to love Brittany and Sean, their 3 week old, is absolutely adorable. Then the last two nights I have had to work. I hear from Billy that sleeping has been a little rough b/c Maycee, my sister's dog, has been spending the night and she is not used to sleeping without any boundaries like the boys, so she's been a little spaz at night, but she's been just fine for me during the day!! :) Other than that, nothing to exciting going on around here. I can tell a difference with the Vegan eating. I am definitely starting to have more energy and not be as tired at work, which is nice. I work the next two nights and then have a couple of days off before it's back to the grind for 2 days and then a little vaca for me!!!!!

Oooooooooo....just heard it start sprinkling. Guess I better go let the dogs in before I have 3 mud covered puppies!!

P.S. Kodi had a great day at clinic and they got some good news concerning all of her results from her surgery last week.

Date Night!!!

Last night was my first night off since last Tuesday, and let me tell you what a glorious night off it was!!! We had dinner here at the house w/ Billy's GA and his volunteer (who's living with us for the time being), and just hung out and flipped channels...it was SO nice!!! Today I am about to head out the door to finish painting some pottery for three of my favorite ladies who I get to see in t-minus 10 days and counting!!! Then it's off to the pool to soak up some sun and then after a quick meeting at work, it's date night with the hubby and his volunteer and his wife (who currently lives in Lubbock). Hope to get some pictures of stuff to put up soon. Most exciting will be when I get to post the picture of my new spectacles!!! The guy at the eye place was pretty sure he had never even seen anyone try them on, let alone buy them!!! I'm so excited. Should be sometime this week. Happy Tuesday!!!

P.S. Kodi got to go home yesterday!!!! :)

Kodi Update

I am cheating and just copying what Tracy J put up on Kodi's site today! :)

By the numbers:

9 hours of surgery

2 bone marrow samples

3 units of blood

2 units of platelets

2 kidneys intact

1 pancreas intact

99% tumor removed

100% relieved!

Kodi is out of surgery and being moved to ICU. We haven’t seen her yet, but Dr. Miller came out to let us know let everything went well. He said it was a long, difficult procedure, but that Kodi did extremely well. He was able to save the kidney and did not have to remove any of the pancreas.

There are still some small nodules remaining in/on the kidney, but they appear to be calcified and “dead.” The only way to remove them would have been to remove the whole kidney. The remaining courses of chemotherapy should be able to kill out any microscopic active cancer cells. (Spine and rib area were left alone today – treatment should take care of these as well.)

Kodi has an incision that spans across the entire abdomen, IV’s in both hands, and another arterial catheter in one wrist. Dr. Miller tells us that she will be very “puffy” from the transfusions/fluids, and she will have the NG tube for about 5 days. I’m assuming the epidural is in place, but we did not confirm at the time.

Please continue to pray for Kodi’s recovery. We still have a long way to go!

Thank you guys so much for your prayers for them today. It's such a relief for me to have it over, I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for them. I'm hoping to get to run over and see them for a little bit when I go to Stephenville in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get down there before Kodi has her transplant b/c I won't get to visit her for sure for awhile after that. Glad that today is over and I can go to bed tonight knowing that she is resting tonight.

--Jenn

Kodi Update/Prayer Requests

Kodi is doing well. All of her tumors have shrunk significantly. Tomorrow is the big day. She has surgery tomorrow to remove what's left of the tumors. The big concern right now is that there is a very good chance she will lose her L kidney when they remove the tumor b/c of where the tumor is. Pray for steady hands for the doctors, calmed nerves for Tracy and Tracy and the girls, and for good pain control for Kodi. Often times that is one of the hardest things for post-op kiddos is being able to get their pain under control.

Secondly, please be praying for my friend Cali. She has an AV malformation in her brain that they found back in May. Since then she has had 3 different surgeries to embolize (cut off blood to) the area and she was supposed to have surgery today to remove the malformation. Her surgeon called her last night and due to some complications with scheduling, his partner was not going to be able to be in the OR today and he and his partner don't do these type surgeries without both of them in the OR, so they had to reschedule her surgery for Aug. 9. To make matters even more stressful, her husband coaches football at SFA and their players report to camp on Aug. 10. Cali really wanted to get this surgery done sooner rather than later so that Jake would have to miss as little of football stuff as possible, but God obviously has different plans. Pray for patience and peace for Cali. She's like me, she's a worrier, and so this whole process has been VERY stressful for her. Pray for Jake that he is able to discern where his time needs to be spent at each moment, whether it be with Cali or in the office/on the football field.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prayers for Jake and Cali and for Tracy and Tracy and Kodi and Maegan.

San Antonio/Boerne/Life in General

Last week we went to San Antonio for the last day of coaching school and our annual coaches retreat. It was a blast. We had a great time in San Antonio and then we headed to Boerne on Wednesday. On our way to Boerne, Billy and I made a detour and stopped in San Marcos. I spent $100 and I got two cardigans, 5 shirts, a pair of Teva flip flops and six pairs of socks...I was pretty proud of myself! Once we got to Boerne we just hung out and relaxed. We had some AMAZING Mexican food that night and then Thursday we got up and after Sarah C. got in from the airport we all packed up and went to float the Comal. I was kind of disappointed b/c the sun never really came out so it was kind of cold, but we still had a blast. That night we ate dinner and watched the Rangers game and then Friday morning everyone got up and cleaned up the house and headed our various directions. Billy and I had planned on going to Houston, but then decided that we needed to head towards home and stop and play along the way instead of driving the opposite direction. Needless to say, we found ourselves in Dallas at a Rangers game on Friday night. It was very fun seeing as how we were in a suite 3 or 4 suites down from the former president's suite. Coach Carthel had called a guy to see if he had extra tickets for us and he did. We thought that they were just going to be decent seats on the bottom level, but really didn't care where they were as long as we got to go see the game. So when we got our tickets and walked in and asked the little Rangers guy where we were at and he directed us to the suites we were WAY excited. The people who let us come were very friendly and they love baseball as much as Billy and I do, so we had a blast. Saturday morning we got up and went camera shopping. We decided to go ahead and make an investment in one so we got a Canon Rebel EOS T1i. I LOVE it!!!! It's takes fantastic pictures and we spent less than I had been expecting on it, so that was a definite plus also. While we were at Fry's to get the camera, Billy called his friend Shawn to see about getting more memory for our computer. You see, it has been slower that molasses on a cold day in Vermont for MONTHS now and I was ready to throw it out the window. Needless to say, all it needed was a little memory. It works beautifully now. I am so excited. Maybe I can actually download some pictures now without sending the computer into a downward spiral! Overall, it was a great trip and a great way to end our summer. Billy started back in the office full-time today and kids report on Aug. 10. Can't believe that football season is already here again!!

On a totally different subject...I have been reading a book and doing some research, and have decided that at least for awhile, I am going to go vegan...only where food is concerned for now. No I do not expect all of you to go vegan also, but this book that I have been reading brought up some very interesting points about the processes our meat and dairy products go through. This is not to say that I am going to be hardcore and never eat cheese or yogurt or meat again, but I want to try this and see if it helps me feel better. I have not been feeling great as of late (as in the last 4 months or so) and maybe a change in diet is what I need. Please do not try and make special accommodations if I am coming to your house, or am going out to eat with you. I am going to make this fit into my life and not the other way around. I would NEVER expect you to go out and buy special food just for me, nor would I want you to. For the most part, I'm just going to be eating lots of fruit and veggies and whole grains. Like I said, this is not a permanent thing at this point...just something I want to try to see if it helps me feel a little more human.

On that note, I have to get off of here and get my house clean. I'm having a Scentsy Party here tomorrow night, but am going to be gone to Lubbock all day tomorrow with a friend taking her little boy to the doctor so I gotta get all my cleaning and errands done today.

Peace!

Camp 2010

So I had a blast at camp last week. It was a fast and furious trip, but a much needed one. My mom went with me b/c I had to drive back a day early to go back to work and didn't really want to drive back by myself, so it was good to have some quality one on one time with her. I made it through the week with only one kid with a broken bone, so I think I did pretty good. It was nice to get away and just enjoy the peace and quiet. My mom scared the ever living tar out of me on the way home, because she fell asleep driving and I just woke up to the sound of us hitting the rumble strip and then the ditch. It scared me to death! Needless to say when we stopped for a bathroom break 15 miles later, I took back over the driving duties.

I worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and then had last night off and came back to work tonight and tomorrow night and then I am off for a week. I can't wait!! Yesterday Billy was gone camping with a bunch of the other coaches, so I got to play while he was away. I spent 3 1/2 hours painting pottery and it was heavenly! Then I went home and cleaned up the house a little bit and then made dinner. We ate as soon as Billy got home and then we both crashed like rocks.

We leave on Tuesday for San Antonio/Central Texas. I am thrilled that this week is finally here, but it's bittersweet at the same time. While I know we are going to have a blast and have been anticipating this trip since I found out we were going, this is also the last week before Billy hits the football grind full-time again. I'm praying that we just enjoy the week and the time that we get to spend with each other as well as friends.

I guess that's all for now. Nothing else really very exciting going on. I'm hoping that maybe we'll get some excitement at work tonight to keep me awake. So far it's not looking so good.

Camp 2010

I leave this morning to go to camp with 4th and 5th graders until Wednesday. I am going to be the camp nurse. They are actually staying through Thursday, but I have to work on Wednesday night, so I have to come back a day early. I'm excited though. It's going to be a blast. Camp holds some of my best memories in life no matter where I was at for camp.

Hopefully I'll be bright eyed on the drive this morning. Last night, or should I say early this morning, we woke up to the boys barking. We, like usual, told them to be quiet and rolled over to go back to sleep...well, that's when I noticed that it looked like someone was in our backyard w/ a flashlight. I then heard voices, and immediately woke Billy up...so glad that he was home for this one! Come to find out, the cops were chasing some 15 year old kid through our neighborhood and had been in our backyard b/c he had been hiding back there. I don't know if they ever caught him or not. Billy, being the good concerned citizen that he is, got dressed and went outside to investigate and get the scoop...I, on the other hand, stayed in my nice warm bed and waited for a report!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Random

Well, found a housekeeper and she comes on Friday!!! So excited! Guess I better get to cleaning before she gets here! How sad is that that I am going to have to clean my house before the housekeeper comes...she is a friend of mine that I didn't even realize was cleaning houses until I started asking around for suggestions. I'm so excited for it to be someone that I know I can trust and that I know will do a good job. It's always a good sign when you go to their house and it's immaculate right???

In other news, on the way home from work this morning, I saw what has to be the funniest stinking bumper sticker ever!!!!! :) It said, "I promise I'm only speeding because I have to poop." I don't know why, but I was crying I was laughing so hard. Call me weird, but it was funny.

Hopefully work is a tad bit more lively tonight than it was last night...oh my goodness...wanted to pull my eyes out last night!

Life...

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Billy has been in and out all summer working camps, and the Lord has definitely blessed us with enabling us to use that money to pay off some debt. We are getting closer and closer to getting the credit card and medical bills paid off! :) I've been working lots and have started orienting a new nurse recently. I am so excited about her and the other new grad that we have. I think that they are going to be great nurses and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them already!!

We took a quick trip to Billy's mom's back in June. It was good to go visit everyone for a couple of days, but oh my stars was it hot!!! I was sweating like a fat girl on her first date, just standing still!!! We had a lot of fun, and while we were there, we went to a Sugarland concert in Shreveport. It was a blast. We took Billy's best friend Carlos with us, and I'm pretty sure that he will think twice before ever going to a concert with us again! :) I have a hard time sitting still in my seat when it's a song that I absolutely love, and I have absolutely no qualms about singing along, so needless to say I loved every minute of the concert and as Billy says, I "bounced and sang my little heart out!" Most of all it was just nice to get to hang out with Billy for a couple of days. It definitely did our hearts good.

This past weekend we got to go to Dallas for my friend Megan's wedding. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I am so glad that I got to go and help out. I was just the helper girl for the day and did basically whatever needed to be done, but it was a great day and I am so happy for Megan. Last summer I went to see her in a production of Grease and ended up being her date to a wedding for a friend of hers. While we were at the wedding, we talked about how her mom had been commenting that she just knew they were going to be planning Megan's wedding for this summer. At the time Megan had never even met Kyle, so she just kept telling her mom she was crazy, but lo and behold, like always, momma knows best and Megan did indeed get married this summer.

On Saturday night after the wedding, Billy and I went to downtown Ft. Worth and walked around for awhile and then went and ate dinner at Texas de Brazil. Oh my gosh!!!!!!! It was SOOOOOOOOOO good. Even though my feet hurt like crazy b/c I had worn blisters on the bottoms of them from having worn my next shoes for so long, dinner was wonderful. Billy and I were talking on the way down, and he made the comment that this was the first time that we had been on a vacation/weekend getaway since we had started dating where we weren't worried about whether we were going to have enough money to get us through the weekend or not. It was so nice to not have to stress about the finances and just enjoy the weekend. On Sunday, we got up and went to Six Flags for the day and had a blast. It was nice b/c it didn't really start getting packed until we were leaving so we didn't really have to spend a whole lot of time waiting in lines, and I was so proud of Billy b/c he actually rode some roller coasters. He is not an adrenaline junky like yours truly, so even the thought of getting on a roller coaster makes him start to loose color in his face. I can't even remember which ride it was, but we got off of one of the roller coasters and he said, I feel like I should be sick to my stomach right now, and I looked back and he was white as a ghost. Bless his heart...he was trying to be adventurous for me, but I'm pretty sure that that particular coaster pushed him way closer to the edge than he likes to be!!! :) After Six Flags we ran back the the truck and enjoyed the air conditioning for a little bit then went to the Rangers game. It was so much fun, even though the Rangers lost, and it was actually not near as hot as we thought it was going to be. The fireworks at the end of the game were fabulous, even if we did keep getting nailed with all the debris from them fireworks.

Billy is in Denton for one last football camp this week, and then we get to go on a little getaway with all the other coaches' for a couple of days and then Billy and I are going to follow the lead of my sweet friend Whitney and her husband Jason and go hang out in Houston for a couple of days for one last trip and then it's back to the football grind. I can't believe that it's already July!! Time has flown by this summer!!

The most exciting new development for us is that we have decided to hire a housekeeper to come twice a month just to do the deep cleaning kind of stuff like dusting and cleaning the bathrooms really well and doing the floors really well. I'm sure some of you are thinking what the hee haw...you are a young married couple with no kids, how on earth do you need a housekeeper...I've been thinking the same thing, but here's our reasoning. Our schedules are so different from each other (he works days, I work nights), and we are both so busy with work, that by the time we get home and have time to do all the deep cleaning, it usually falls on the one or two days a week that we actually have time to spend/see each other, and I don't enjoy spending the precious few hours I have my husband to myself, cleaning the house. So since Billy got a raise, and I got a promotion that comes with a raise (which was not planned), that is our present to ourselves. So now the search begins for a housekeeper.

I wish I had pictures to put up from all of these adventures of late, but unfortunately, my camera has died. I'm hoping that I can at least get the pictures that are on my memory card off and downloaded, but we are on the hunt for a new camera as we speak.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I'm off to workout and then head to work.

--JB

Holy Moly!!!!!!!

Nothing like sending yourself into cardiac arrest when you open up the cell phone bill. Apparently there was a LARGE mistake made when Billy got his new phone and we now owe the cell phone company 3x what a normal bill is for us. Here's hoping that they are understanding and work with me in the morning when I try to get it all straightened out.

grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!

I absolutely hate being home alone...Billy has been gone since Wednesday and won't be back until next Saturday...for pete's sake it's the summer...he's supposed to be at home!!! It's been a rough weekend. Mostly because I've spent a lot of time around couples from our SS class and it always makes me sad when Billy isn't there to do stuff. I feel like a third wheel at times...I know I shouldn't and I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter to anyone else but me, but none-the-less, I'm ready for him to be home. We see little enough of each other as it is and for him to be gone 10 days in a row in the summer is hard for me to be okay with!

Okay--I'm over my little fit how. Back to catching up on blogs and continuing on the cleaning quest.

Life...

Life has been absolutely crazy here lately. May was supposed to be an "easy" month because Billy is off for the most part in May. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't remember stopping in May. My sister FINALLY graduated from ACU the first weekend in May so we were there for that. On Friday night before graduation we got to meet up with Jason and Whitney and Matt, Erin, and Rylan for dinner. It was great to see the girls again and just fun to enjoy dinner with them. Then, once we got home we hit the ground running. Billy went to Cinncinati the next weekend while I stayed here and worked, and then I don't even know what happened to the last two weeks in May! Work has continued to be crazy as usual. I'm ready for us to have some staff, so that there will at least be a little bit of hope for getting a day off. I have a few pictures that I will try and post soon. Our computer at home has been on the fritz, so I've only had access to the internet from work or if I come to my parents. Hopefully I'll be able to get it figured out soon. Billy left today and will be gone until next Saturday working various football camps. It kind of stinks on timing because I actually have the next 6 days off. Oh well, I'm on a mission to deep clean my house from top to bottom while he's gone. I've enlisted a friend in return for helping strip her house of clutter here in a couple of weeks. Nothing else really exciting going on right now. Just thought I would post so that I would have proof that I am still alive in case I begin to wonder! :)

Relieved or Disappointed...I don't know which!

I don't know whether I am more relieved or disappointed that I will not be changing jobs at this point. I absolutely LOVE my job, even though some days are really hard, and I honestly can't imagine myself doing anything else; however, I struggle w/ working nights. It is hard on me and hard on our marriage, especially during football season and recruiting season. So Billy and I decided that after 3 years on nights it was time for me to start looking for a day position. I really want to continue taking care of kids, so I started my search by applying for school nurse positions. I knew that they didn't pay a lot, but the thought of having my summers off and having a schedule very similar to what Billy's is was very exciting, so I went ahead and applied. Long story short, I was talking to a friend at church this weekend and asked her what she had been offered when she applied for school nurse positions last year and when she told me how much, my heart sunk to the floor. There is no way that Billy and I can take that kind of pay cut. So, I will not even be interviewing for positions. I have to call both school districts in the morning and let them know to remove my application.

I am relieved, because the thought of leaving my job had become very overwhelming in the last week or so. I don't feel like I have finished everything here that I am supposed to, and what I once thought was just nerves about a new job has turned out to be a true lack of peace in my heart and mind about the decision to leave. Things have been really rough the last couple of months, but they are starting to look up and work has become a fun place to be again. I am disappointed though, because like I said, the idea of being off in the summer w/ Billy and have holidays and that kind of thing off was very exciting, and it's been sort of a let down to know that at this point that is something that isn't attainable. I think that Billy is more disappointed than I am about it all, mostly because he really doesn't like me working nights.

So it's back to the drawing board. Coach Carthel set up an interview for me for later this week, so we'll see how that goes. I'm not just real excited about it, because it's not really a job that I want to do. Is that being selfish? I understand why Billy doesn't want me to be working nights, but at the same time, I love my job, and have little to no desire to do anything else as far as work is concerned at this point in my life.

Speaking of work, I am at work and it's time to do 5 o'clock rounds, so I will end this here. I'll update later in the week about how Kodi is doing, how the interview goes, and Billy's proud papa moment this week.

It's Official....

I submitted my application to both Canyon and Amarillo ISD on Saturday for school nurse positions and mailed my transcripts, etc. today. Hopefully I'll hear something in the next couple of weeks. It's a big step and a big change that I'm not sure I'm ready for or really want, but one that I know is necessary. I'll keep y'all updated as to how things are going.

Kodi, Cook's, Granbury, work, and everything inbetween!!

I have got to get better at updating my blog and downloading pictures so that it doesn't take 3 hours every time!!!!! :)

I went to Dallas to visit Kodi and the rest of the Tutt gang a couple of weeks ago. While I was there we took multiple trips to the playrooms, up to the 4th floor to the aquariums to see the eel, wagon rides out to the playground to play, and had a toenail painting party amongst other things. It was SO good to be there and to be able to hug them all and just hang out and love on them. Kodi is doing well. She got to go home on Saturday after I left on Friday. She has embraced her baldness and now only wears her hats to protect her head, but not because she's trying to disguise her bald head. She was pretty much back to her old self when I left, and it was good to see Tracy and Tracy relax a little as the real Kodi appeared. Right now she is still at home hanging out. She goes in on Monday to have blood drawn to check her platelet level, and hopefully her level will be high enough that she can get chemo. She is already a week behind because her platelet count hasn't recovered from the first round of chemo yet.

Cook's is a great hospital and they took amazing care of Tracy J and Kodi while they were there, and I know that they will continue to do that. It makes me want to work in a bigger Children's Hospital and makes me sad for the things that we don't have for our kids. (like a playground)

When I went to see Kodi, I also got to stay not just one, but two nights with my friend Shanan and her family in Granbury. They opened up their home to me on Tuesday night and then again on Friday night. It was wonderful to just sit and talk. It was the first time I had really spent any time w/ Shanan's husband and I can't wait for Billy and I to go and hang out with them this summer because I know that we will have a blast. Their girls S and B crack me up!!!!! B came into the living room on Friday night and got me to come and do a concert with her. We then proceeded back to her bedroom where she gave me a stuffed guitar and told me that I was her band and then she turned on her CD player, stepped up to the mic and went to town. It was so much fun, and I hope that if we ever have little girls that they will be as big of fans of "jamming" as Shanan's girls are. (oh, and we definitely belted out Miley Cyrus the whole way home from Babe's that night...it was good times!)

On Tuesday, I also go to see my sweet friend Whitney, however, I am pretty sure that she thinks that I am a horrible influence on her children and I don't know that I will ever get invited back to her house! :) She has two adorable little girls M and K and they both have lots of personality and make me smile. It was good to get to hug Whitney's neck, even if I didn't get to stay long.

Work has been draining in every way, shape, fashion and form the last couple of weeks/months. We are short staffed, and just seem to keep getting shorter staffed so we've all been having to change our schedules around and adjust to make sure all the days are covered, so most days, I have no idea what day it is! We have had some rough cases come through the last couple of weeks that have been very emotionally draining for us. The little girl I am taking care of right now is absolutely precious. She was in a car wreck and lost her mom, her brother and her sister. I just want to hold her and love on her, but haven't been able to physically do that because of her injuries, so instead I've been doing "the little things" as her dad likes to call them. I have washed and french braided her hair, made sure that her head bands have been in place to cover where they had to shave part of her hair, painted her fingernails and toenails multiple different times, and spending lots of time just holding her hand. She has already lived a life much more difficult than any seven year old, let alone any seventy year old, should have to endure and now to lose the people she loves the most in her life. My heart just breaks for her family as they are struggling with how and when to tell her now that she is starting to be more awake. I want to be able to fix it, and I can't, so I'll continue to do "the little things", and hopefully they'll add up to a big thing in that her family will see the love of Jesus.

We had a house guest for a about a month and a half. It was nice because I knew that when I was at work at night, Billy didn't have to sit at home by himself. And we had lots of fun all hanging out together. We bought a new grill a couple of weeks ago, and have already more than gotten our money's worth out of it. We use it every day at least once a day if not more. We also got a fire pit and some patio chairs so that we can actually sit outside and enjoy the evenings. (The fire pit also has come in handy for disposing of our shred pile!!!)

Not a whole lot else going on around here. I head to Dallas again next week to hang out with the Tutt's and to spend some much needed girl time with Whitney and Shanan. I'm at work right now so I can't add pictures to this post, but once I get up this afternoon I will upload all the pictures that go with this post so that you'll have something to look at instead of just my rambling!!!

Update on Kodi and Spring Break for us...

Well, Kodi officially has her first round of chemo under her belt. TW and TJ thought that they were going to get to go home today, but the doctors want to see Kodi's pain under a little better control and want to see her eating better before they let her go home along w/ doing more education with TW and TJ on what to watch for when they get home so Friday is now the plan. They finally got the official results back from her bone scan today and along w/ the tumor in her abdomen and the one close to her spine, ALL of her bone marrow, and ALL of her hard bone is effected. Not great news, but when Kodi was diagnosed everybody knew we were in this for the long haul and that hasn't changed. Tuesday can't get here fast enough for me. It's going to be hard for me to make myself take a nap before I leave to head that way, but I will have to make myself so that I can stay awake for the drive down.

I finally caved this week and let Billy buy Rock Band. He and Jared May (one of the other coaches here) were about to pee their pants when they got home from Best Buy the other day they were so excited. I have to admit it's been pretty fun to play the last couple of days. Along w/ rocking out on Rock Band we have been finishing up laundry and yesterday we moved all of the furniture out of our room and cleaned the carpets in our room. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get the guest bedroom done.

I have to work tonight, so I guess I should get off of here and get ready. Hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day.

Pray that Kodi will have an appetite and that her pain would be better controlled as they get ready to go home. And say a prayer of thanks for all the people that have rallied around the Tutt's. Their house has been invaded and disinfected top to bottom and the grocery store there in Sanger is giving them free groceries for as long as they need them along w/ all the countless other things people have done for them.