June Pics

I know I have been behind on posting pics, so here are some of my favorite from June. My camera isn't acting right, so some are foggy looking. I am still searching for the right camera, and YES, I am being picky!

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Two kids in a laundry basket....if Joshua sees a laundry basket, you can bet that he will dump whatever is in it so that he can play with it.

Sammi and her cousin Kate playing with her fairytale playset...don't you just love the attire they are in while they play?

Sammi's school had professional face-painters come to, you guessed it, paint their face! :) You can't tell by this picture, but her face is painted like a horse. She insisted on leaving it on when she went to gymnastics that night. You can imagine the comments she got!
This picture was taken on Mother's Day after Joshua fell and just about bled to death...ok, that is being dramatic, but he bled a lot and scared me! His bandaid is at the top of his forehead, right in the middle.

Yee-Haw!

Dr. Joshua B. Cantrell He loves his doctor kit, especially the glasses. If he has on the stethescope, he will go up to everyone and put it to their chest then his and says "my heart"

Sammi was not thrilled to see Joshua wearing HER sunglasses. As she said, "he is going to break them!" Ah, she knows him well.

Don't you just love his blue mustache?
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

Isn't Corporate America Great?

Huh, where do I begin with this post?

I would say that pretty much all of my friends and family know how much I love my job, love the people I work with, and have loved Pfizer for the past 10 years. Unfortunately that will all be coming to an end. After weeks of speculation and rumors, I was told that Pfizer is eliminating the recruiting department for our field sales division. Blah. I wasn't shocked, but it is still hard to fully take in that the end of my career at Pfizer is here. It's one thing to choose to leave a company, but it's another to be told you are leaving.

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The reasons for Pfizer to make such a big cut is very clear and makes total sense: we will not be hiring anyone outside the company for at least 2 years. What on earth would I be doing that entire time? Certainly not what I was hired to do. It still sucks, I loved my job and I know I will land on my feet at another great company.

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The plus side to this is that I am getting an amazing severance package. Let's just say that if I choose to not work for a year, I can. Me and my family will keep the amazing benefits for a year. When I say amazing, I mean amazing. It cost us zero dollars to have Joshua. That's right folks, nothing, nada, zilch. When Joshua had his open heart surgery, the total bill was almost $70,000. What did we pay? Just take a guess. $100 bucks is all we had to shell out. And did I mention we pay nothing for our prescriptions? You now get the picture, they are incredible benefits. I have already told myself to not expect that anywhere else.

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My last day is July 18th, then I am paid through September 15th. Not too shabby of a deal....stay home with my kids while I get P-A-I-D. But now I have to decide what to do: start looking and interview for jobs so that I can start working late September or early October so that I can invest my severance pay? Or stay home for awhile? I have been thinking and thinking about that for the past week.

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I have decided that I am going to keep Sammi in preschool part time until she starts Kindergarten on Aug. 25th. They take field trips twice a week that she loves, so I'll keep her doing that. Then after she starts school I will not have her go to daycare before or after school until I start a new job. Keller ISD still has half day Kindergarten. Can you believe that? And I'll keep Joshua in his home care part time so that I don't lose his spot. I just adore the woman that watches him (she watched Sammi too when she was a baby) and don't want to take him out and lose his spot! He is not ready for preschool yet, so I want to keep him there until he is. So at least I have what will happen to the kids figured out! I will truly enjoy being a stay at home mom for awhile. But I am not used to being home so much, so we will see how soon it will be that I am climbing the walls and calling my friends that stay at home to get some tips and ideas. :)

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This past week has also left me feeling nostalgic. Thinking of so many I have formed amazing relationships with, what all the company has allowed for me to do, places I have travelled, things I have learned, etc. When Joshua was recovering from his heart surgery for 6 weeks, my boss allowed for me to work from home that entire time so that I did not have to take unpaid time off. Can you believe that? So generous of him. I love my boss, he is a great person and friend. I was telling another friend just today of all the places I have travelled to with Pfizer. You ready to read my long list? Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, NYC (a kagillion times. and yes, I just made up that word), Boston, Providence, Baltimore, Parsippany, Newark, Charleston, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, and the best two saved for last....Honolulu and Cabo San Lucas. I can thank Pfizer for my frequent flier miles and high status with American Airlines!

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Ok I know this has bored many, so I'll close this post. Goodbye Pfizer, thank you for the many great years!

Go Rangers!

Tuesday night we went to the Texas Rangers baseball game with my dad, Jason, and Sammi. We thought we were going to get rained out, but it ended up being breezy and nice! This was the first time for Sammi to see them play and my Dad's first time at the "new" stadium since he moved back to Texas.

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Sammi was so giddy with excitement and that she could wear her Rangers jersey to an actual game. Jason got that for her for Christmas. Most of the game Jason was explaining things to her about the game. It was cute. We left Joshua at home with Jason's dad for obvious reasons! We would have been chasing him up and down the stairs and all over. No thanks!

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I hate this picture of me and my double chin! But at that angle, there was no choice. :(

Aren't we cute? Sammi took this picture. Not bad!

Jason, Sammi, and my dad. He was just as excited as Sammi was. I grew up with him taking me to many Ranger games, but at the old stadium. I have many fond memories of those times!

This picture is of several Golden Knights skydivers from the Army. When they jumped out over the stadium, they were so high up that they were just specks in the sky. No thanks! I'll stay on the ground!

Here some are landing on the field. Several bounced from landing so hard. But it was neat to watch!

Me, my dad , and Sammi

Sammi and my dad playing. She was giving him her mean glare.

Me and my girl. I might be biased, but she is so stinkin' cute!

Jason, the pushover, got Sammi a big foam finger. We had to apologize to the people in front of us a few times from her accidentally hitting them. Oops!

I love this picture of the three of them as we were walking back to the car.

Small Blessings

Joshua had a checkup with his cardiologist today. It is standard to have his heart checked up on every several months after the wall was built between the top two chambers to make sure there is no leaking. Another reason for his checkup is to keep an eye on his pulmonary valve.

Without getting too technical and detailed, basically his pulmonary valve is narrow. The surgeon and cardiologist did not want to fix it during his surgery for many conservative reasons. They were hopeful that it would open up on it's own, which sometimes happens. There was the possibility to have another surgery to open it up. That thought worried me....I did NOT want him to be put under and cut open his chest again.

So, I just prayed and prayed that Joshua's valve was just slow to open up. Well, God was listening because his doctor told me today that she was really pleased with what she saw from his EKG and echocardiogram. She told me he has less than a 50% chance to have surgery again in his future. Woo-hoo! I love those odds!

Throughout all of this, I have been proven, yet again, that all of this is not in my control. But His control. I didn't dwell on it or really talk about it because there was nothing I could do except pray and ask others to do the same. That's it. Pretty simple!

For those of you that have included my precious Joshua in your prayers....thank you. I will keep praying so the next time we see her, the % is even less. One thing that made me even happier was when the doctor told us that she won't need to see Joshua for 1 year. Wow!

Again, thank you. I am forever grateful!

Need A Good Laugh?

If anyone is in the need for a good laugh, go to my friend Marcia's blog. You can get to it from my links section and click on "Marcia". When you get to her blog, find the one titled "Please Wear A Bra To Wal-Mart". It's hilarious and shocking, all at the same time. Enjoy!

What A Weekend!

Jason and I went on our annual trip to the Guadalupe River over Memorial Weekend. Pics to be posted later. Sammi & Joshua were at my mom's for the long weekend and had a ball (as usual!).

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On our way down, we stopped at the outlet mall in San Marcos with our friends Jennifer and Dustin. We do this every year....gotta shop first, then relax and have fun! Jason was not his normal self and actually went into more stores than I did. Shocking! Oh, and I walked into Victoria's Secret to find that the ENTIRE store was $9.99. Really. $10 bucks for everything! I was in heaven!

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We rented a house with a separate cottage in New Braunfels with 3 couples and 2 other single friends. The same people usually go each year. The place Jennifer found this year was amazing! Friday night we played a game called Dirt that is a lot like Truth or Dare, just not the Dare part. It was fun and I learned a lot about my friends! Saturday we floated the Guadalupe River. Jason was in a one man raft this time while I stayed in my usual tube. The river was pretty crowded this year and as always, gave us plenty to see and gasp over. :) You know you are getting old when you start referring those in college as "kids".

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After floating the river for several hours, we were exhausted! We spent most of Saturday night playing Rock Band. If you have never played it, I highly recommend playing! It' s a lot like Guitar Hero, but with drums, a bass guitar, and a microphone for someone to sing. Jason kicked butt on the drums and I, um, didn't kick butt on the guitar. But I had fun trying!

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Sunday was a lazy, relaxing day. I spent most of the day reading my newest Harlan Coben book that I was dying to crack open. There was a hammock that I laid in for awhile while reading. It was heaven! We played horseshoes and more games that day and night.

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Monday morning after cleaning and heading out, it was back to reality. I had a great time hanging out with friends, reading, relaxing, and just having fun! We'll be back next year!

Oh no....here we go!

It's over. My mornings and days of getting Joshua out of his crib are over. And I'm not happy about it!

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Joshua came into our bedroom BY HIMSELF Saturday morning. Jason was fishing that day, so he was already gone. When he is gone, I am WAY alert. When I heard Joshua's voice, I was so hopeful that it was coming from Sammi's cartoons. Then the voice got closer and then I heard "where's mommy?". He came running in my room just so proud of himself. I on the other hand, was quietly freaking out inside. Thinking "did he fall?" Nope. I was hopeful it was just a one time thing. Boy was I wrong! Sunday he came waltzing into the living room after his nap. He scared Jason to death this morning at 6 am when he came out of his room. AAAHHH!!!!

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Let me preface why I am freaking out: Samantha was in her crib until she was almost 3. Not once did she try to get out of her crib. I sought the advice from so many friends and family asking if I should take her out. Everyone told me to leave her in the crib until she starts to get out on her own. The only reason why we took her out was because I was pregnant with Joshua and he needed that crib! And I wanted her to be fully comfortable in her new bed in her new room before he came along and completely rocked her world.

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Jason said the inevitable "we need to convert his crib into a toddler bed". No! No! No! I am not ready! I think part of me does not want to let go of the few "baby" things that is left. And the crib is definitely one of them! I searched for the instructions to convert the crib, but I have come up short. The crib was purchased 6 years ago! We never had to convert it for Sammi, so this is new. Thank goodness for the internet....it has got to be there somewhere!

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My worry now is having to divert him back to his bed, whether it's the crib until I find the instructions, or the bed once it is converted. I am sure that won't be fun. He is two. And as his Aunt Julie says "he is two and good at it" and she is right! When Sammi was 3 and in her new bed, we could reason with her on why she had to go back to her bed. I have a feeling it won't be that simple with strong-headed, all-boy Joshua!

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If anyone has suggestions, I am all ears (or eyes!). :)

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It feels weird sending out posts without a picture (can you tell it's just killing me not having a camera so post new pics?), so I'm putting in a picture, even though it has nothing to do with this post. :)