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. :)

Crazy Mother's Day

Yea I know, Mother's Day was a week ago. I usually blog on Sunday nights after my kids go to bed and last Sunday I was just not up to it! I have to recap my Mother's Day.

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I want to preface that I do not have pictures documenting my day. My camera bit the dust and I have not gotten around to buying a new one. I know, me who takes a million pictures has not bought one! Trust me, I have scoured the internet looking at a ton and now I can't make up my mind. So I had a disposable camera for the day and I have not taken all of the alloted pictures to get it developed. So this blog, and a few after this will be just words, no pics. Sorry!

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My day started off well, both kids slept in! Well, Sammi didn't but she turns on the TV in the morning and watches cartoons until I get up, which is normally not long. I set the dish channel to be on her guide the night before so she can do this. Anywhoo, Mr. Josh slept in which is a big deal! He doesn't wake up early, but when he is up, he is up! Jason wanted us to go to the Ft. Worth Nature Center & Refuge for the day. Perfect, I wanted to spend the day with the kids and Jason. And if I was asked, I would have loved a day just alone watching movies...uninterrupted!

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As we were leaving, Jason got a call from his security dept that his office was broken into and he needed to go up there to do inventory. LONG story short, I went without him with the kids. We went straight to the building at the nature refuge for information and look at some animals indoors. We were walking out and the kids started to run off. Naturally, Joshua fell down. That kid falls so much that I didn't freak out. Then as I saw him hit the ground, he immediately started to scream. I ran after him and as he stood up, there was a lot of blood gushing from his head. I scooped him up and looked to see where it was coming from. A lot kept coming and coming so fast that I couldn't see where it was coming from, his face and hair was covered in blood. Sammi was freaking out so I had to try and remain calm for her all the while Joshua is screaming and blood is gushing from his head or face somewhere.

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I ran inside holding him to ask for help and a first aid kit. I ran back outside to keep the blood from getting everywhere and found some baby wipes out of my backpack. I was quickly wiping his face to see if it was coming from his scalp, nose, mouth, etc. I was able to see it was on his forehead and put the wipe there. A woman saw all of this and came out with wet papertowels saying "I am sure the wipes are hurting him". Please don't take this wrong and think I wasn't grateful, but after that comment, I wanted to say "no kidding, but this is all I have to stop the bleeding!". I know she meant well. We ran into the bathroom to clean him up and put on a butterfly bandage. That alone wasn't easy....he did NOT want anyone to touch his forehead. As the woman that worked there helped bandage him up she said "when kids cut their forehead, they bleed like a stuck pig!" Now that was funny to hear!

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After going through a ton of wet paper towels to clean him up, the waste basket looked like it came from a murder scene. It was nasty! As we were walking out, Sammi told me that I had blood on me. I looked in the mirror and it was all on my neck, clothes, feet...you name it, I had blood on me. I started to worry wondering if I needed to take him to the hospital in case he lost too much blood. The cut alone was tiny! I asked the women that came to help since they all had kids and they all said that was normal! And after we got home and throughout the week when I told others, most told me that when kids cut their foreheads, they bleed a lot because of all of the blood vessels there and their thin skin. Who knew??

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I decided to take them on a small trail since that is what we came for! Sammi then tells me that her tummy hurt. I talked and asked her questions to figure out why it hurt, and come to find out, it was because of all of the blood she saw. It really freaked her out. Poor girl! She decided she was ok and could go on a trail. Not a few feet later, Joshua tripped and fell again! He didn't hurt himself, but it was enough for me to say "alright, let's go!". So off we went.

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Jason had a ton to deal with the break in and didn't get home until 6. But he brought me dinner and I laid in bed the rest of the night watching a movie...uninterrupted! I never get to do that! It wasn't the Mother's Day I had in my head, but life doesn't always go the way we want it to sometimes.

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I hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

My Daughter, the Graduate

Today Samantha had a graduation ceremony for her Pre-Kindergarten class. Her class practiced for several weeks and that is just about all we heard about as well. Not about the lesson for the week, books she is learning to read, or words she is writing. Graduation. That's it. This week was even count down to Friday everyday. And I mean, everyday. Every morning. Every night. You get the picture. She was just so excited!

All of them sang 6 songs, some mixed with sign language and one in Spanish. Each was asked to stand up and tell us what they wanted to be when they grew up. Samantha proudly said "an astronaut and a professional soccer player!". That's my girl! One boy said he wanted to be a doctor AND dentist. I like his goals! Some said Batman or Spiderman, and there were several cheerleaders, sports players, and some ologist. We couldn't understand what she said, other than some big word that we never heard of that ended in "ologist".

When did it become the trend to have a graduation for Pre-K? I myself didn't have one since I didn't go to preschool. But I don't remember ever hearing of them until the last few years. Maybe I just never paid attention before I had kids?? In fact, I didn't have one in Kindergarten either and I think most schools have a graduation then as well. My first cap and gown was at 18, not 5! But, they sure look adorable in their tiny gown and tassel hanging to the side of their cap. They got to keep their tassel.....and no, I don't plan on hanging it from my rearview mirror in case you were wondering. :)

As soon as I can get them to work (I am impatient tonight!) I will post the videos of her singing some songs. But here are a few of my favorite pictures.

The graduate with her diploma. And for those few of you that know THE mother of all stories of Samantha in class this year, THE Blake is sitting to her right. Now you have a face with the name.

The proud parents...

Trent, John, & Samantha. Trent has a big crush on Samantha, but she only has eyes for John. :) But if you ask her, John is NOT her boyfriend! Since the first day she started attending Ivy Glen, she has been by John's side. For awhile, she would get upset if someone else sat next to him. Ah, young puppy love....

Samantha and her best girlfriends....Taryn, Katie, Olivia R, and Olivia B.

Ms. Shirley, Samantha's teacher. I love Ms. Shirley and will miss having her as Samantha's teacher. She had Samantha pegged from Day 1 and knew just the right way in handling her and how to keep her focused (she is a major talker. I wonder where she gets that?).

Scruffy daddy (that's just 1 day from not shaving!) and his favorite girl.

After the ceremony they had cake and punch in another room and made it very clear that they needed to remove their cap and gown. I wonder why?? Here is Samantha with one of her best friends, Olivia R. There are two Olivia's and we are always asking her "which Olivia?" when she talks about them.

And if you are wondering, yes, I did cry. Just a little in the beginning. I wasn't planning on it and honestly didn't think I would feel sad. But as I sat there reading the program and thinking about all that she has learned in preschool, it hit me! She is slowly breaking away from "my little girl" mold. I keep telling her that she will always be my little girl when she corrects me and says "I am NOT a little girl! I am a big girl!" Even when she is 30 or 40, I will call her my little girl. Right? Geez, how will I be when she graduates high school and college? I am sure not as bad as I will be when she becomes an astronaut or a professional soccer player. :)

Amy & Jacob's Wedding

This blog is a little late, but I couldn't not write about this and show the amazing pictures my sister Meredith and her husband Greg took. One of my most closest, dearest friends Amy got married a few weeks ago. She met the perfect match for her....Jacob! He is an amazing person that loves her unconditionally, as all true love should, and loves her two beautiful kids as though they are his own. Watching their relationship blossom and see the four of them together really brought tears to my eyes. Tears of joy that my friend found someone that loved the three of them. I prayed for this and God answered!

They were married outside at the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens and it was beautiful! The colors of the grass, flowers, plants were so vibrant. And Amy was a beautiful bride. Thankfully I got there early because I was asked to drive back to her house to pick up the flowers they forgot. I got back just in the nick of time for the wedding to start! I was SO glad there were no cops to and from because I broke many traffic laws! Sorry, but I had the bouquet! :)

Enough of my rambling...on with the pictures!

Ella & Jackson, Amy's two gorgeous kids. Aren't they? Jackson was Sammi's first "boyfriend". As babies, they crawled on the floor together and we even caught Jackson patting her thick, diapered bottom. He started young. :)

The wedding party...I love the shade of green they had!

Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Bryant

So cute...

Jason & I at the reception.

Me & Amy. I just couldn't stop hugging her, I was just so happy for her!

The happy couple!

Amy, I love you and couldn't be happier that Jacob is in your life. I pray that God continues to bless the four of you!