Merry Christmas Santa!

Thomas and I took Caroline to see Santa earlier this week. With no days off during the week and the weekend not even close to being an option, we decided to go after work one day and the line wasn't so bad. Probably took us about 15 minutes if that! Caroline was soooo excited! We put her down and she ran over to him and climbed up in his lap. Here is the picture!

What a crazy dinner experience

Oh my!! I took Caroline to meet Andrea at Chuy's tonight and let me tell you that was THE worst dining out experience I have had with her. We ended up having to leave the restaurant before finishing our meal. I totally felt sorry for the people around us and poor Andrea...she was such a trooper. Caroline would NOT sit in the highchair regardless of how many crayons we gave her, chips dipped in green sauce, toys, etc we gave her. She just wanted to sit next to her mommy, which was sweet! We tried a booster seat in the booth next to me and that seemed to work for a bit, but she soon lost interest in that as well even after her meal arrived. She just wanted to run around the place. I was getting all kinds of "nice" looks from people around us as she screamed and threw herself on the floor in true 2 year old fashion. FUN TIMES!!One lady looked at me and said sympathetically "i know how you feel....I have 4 kids." So needless to say, it was a short dinner.

So I need some advice...Thomas and I have been dealing with Caroline hitting us! She does it when she is playing and when she is upset with us. Doesn't sound like an issue she is having at school (per her teachers), but we struggle with it at home. We have tried telling her "no" and that "we don't hit", but it doesn't seem to work. I am not a proponent of spanking her when she hits us as that seems a bit contradictory and time-outs don't seem to work either. So...any advice???

Cute Videos

Got some cute videos we took when we were in South Carolina. They are a bit dark, but pretty stinkin cute! We have Caroline singing her ABCs and singing Mary Had a Little Lamb

We have heat!!

Our heater has not been working for the past few days and it's been pretty freakin cold here! Woke up this morning and it was like 65 degrees in our house. Makes for getting out of bed pretty tough, but sitting on toilet even tougher...chilly buns! We had someone come over tonight and work on it. Thomas wasn't at home while the guy was here fixing it and I'll tell ya, I was not a fan of having to deal with that, but it's done, it cost a pretty penny, but we have heat and I don't have to walk around my house anymore like that kid on A Christmas Story who "can't put my arms down."

Caroline and I watched Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer together tonight. It was really sweet. She curled up in my lap and kept telling me she wanted to watch Christmas every time the commercials would start. She would also ask where the snowman, reindeer, and Santa went after the "scene" changed.

Another cute story--this past weekend, my in laws came over for dinner and my MIL was showing Caroline my nativity scenes and pointing out baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Well yesterday, Caroline told me she wanted to see Baby Jesus! So I scooped her up and took her over to one and she proceeded to tell me who baby Jesus was, as well as Mary and Joseph. This kid's memory amazes me! She remembers so much of what we say to her and the thing is, she remembers it several days later. That's just amazing to me!!

Could be a fluke...

But Caroline went pee pee and poo poo in the potty yesterday! My mom was watching her yesterday afternoon and Caroline told her she needed to go potty, so my mom took her and she went pee-pee!! A few hours later Caroline told my mom she needed to go poo poo and what do you know, she did it! So it looks like we might be starting the whole potty training thing! I am not prepared for this, but looks like we might need to give it a try! Just need to find a weekend where we don't have anything going on...is that possible??

I'm alive...

It's been a LONG time since I have posted (I know, I know), but I am going to try and be better! I will say, my not posting has not been for a lack of things going on in my life. We have been busy, busy, busy. Here is a run down of some of the more recent things. Caroline turned 2 this month! We had a Wonder Pets themed birthday party with lots of friends and family. Caroline LOVES the Wonder Pets and it was so cute watching her look at all the decorations when she woke up from her nap! I found a GREAT cake if I must say so myself. If you ever need a cake and are in the area, let me know!

We also took Caroline on her 1st plane ride to see family in South Carolina! I must say, in true "me" fashion, I was SUPER nervous about the flight. We took the cheap route and did not buy her her own seat like we were supposed to since she is 2, so I was pretty nervous that she would want no part of sitting in my lap for 2 hours. I was thinking between her being her hyper little self and karma getting back at me for "lying", I was sure to be in for it, but she did a GREAT job. Got lots of great advice from people who have done it before; packed sugar-free/low sugar snacks, toys, colors, stamps, stickers, books, dvd player, Spiderman, pacis, night-night, etc. The best advice by far was the benadryl for sure! Felt kinda bad about giving her medication when she really didn't need it, but here is a picture of her 30ish minutes before the flight

She was passed out! Woke up for the flight, but so content with sitting with me. We were very surprised. Trip to SC was great!! All and all it was a great trip and everyone just loved her and she LOVED them, especially John "the panda!" She loved to say that "panda eat bamboo!" If I ever get video loaded I will post a video of her entertaining everyone at dinner one night singing her ABCs. Pretty stinkin cute!! Flight home was even easier than the flight there, she slept for the majority of the flight, thanks to the benadryl I am sure! Well enough for tonight. Hope you enjoy and I will try to be better! Don't give up on me...

Pictures of the new do

Here she is without the mullet! I think it is cute!!

No more mullet!

So I finally decided to do away with the mullet! It was time. Being almost 2, the girl needs a hair style....granted she still doesn't have much hair on the side and some of it likes to flip up/out, but she needed a "look!" Took her this morning and she actually did really well. Normally she freaks out like you are physically hurting her or something, but the lady had her sit in my lap and it worked MUCH better! She was clingy and squirmy, but that beats screaming any day! She is napping now, but I'll get a picture on here later. It's pretty cute if I must so say myself.

After the haircut, we ran into Thomas going to Specs (the salon is like 2 doors down) and went in with him. We love that place, it's like the best place on earth. It always makes me feel funny when I take my kid in there though. Seems like we are always the only ones with a baby in the place. We have been taking her since she was an infant. I am sure as we load up the cart on wine, people are thinking what alcoholics we are, but oh well...we must have our wine supply, or as a friend's 2 year old daughter calls it, "mamma's juice."

It's been awhile..

and I have not forgotten about my blog. I don't want to be one of those people that starts the thing and never writes anything, but it is been a rough month and I have really just been procrastinating this post. I think if I can get past this one, I will be better!!

My dad passed away on August 1st. We were very lucky to have had my mom, brother and his wife Linde, and Thomas all there in the room with him when it happened. My mom and I were holding his hands, she told him it was okay to go and kissed him, I was able to "zrbtt" (zerbert) him one last time, and then he was gone. I'll never forget seeing my mom curled up on his hospital bed crying after they took him. I curled up with her on the bed and and held her and we both cried, not believing what had just happened. That will be a memory that stays with me for the rest of my life. We spent the next week planning the service and trying to keep each other busy. I was amazed and felt truly blessed for all of the wonderful support we received from family and friends.

The service was beautiful and just what we would have wanted. He is buried at the Houston National Cemetery. The American Legion did a flag folding ceremony where they recite a poem as they are folding the flag. It was very touching. Thomas and I took Caroline to the cemetery later that afternoon the day of his funeral and as we drove into the cemetery, we saw a beautiful rainbow. It hadn't been raining at all that day, but I like to think that was him letting us know he was okay, that we would be ok, and that he was looking out for us.

So it has been a little over a month now and that is so hard to believe. I sometimes, for a split second forget and think to myself that I need to call my mom and check on him or stuff will happen at my house or with my car and I think "oh...I'll call daddy..he'll know the answer." And then it hits me that I can't do that...that he's not here. I can't pick up the phone anymore and hear his voice. I just can't believe this has happened. I hadn't come to terms with the fact that he was sick and going to die in 6 month, so the fact that he went so quickly is just still so shocking to me. I know that he wanted it that way and I honestly think he willed it to happen this way, but I wish I would have had just a few more better days with him. I would give anything for that. I would give anything to hear his voice right now, calling me "Amos" or telling me that whatever I was doing would "give me worms" or "put hair on my chest (odd I know =) ). I can almost hear his voice in my mind when I close my eyes. I hope that doesn't go away.

So I took a 1/2 day from work on Tuesday (the 1st) and spent it with my mom. It was a good day for us. We went to lunch, did a little shopping, and then went to the cemetery. We were surprised by the fact that the headstone was there. We thought it would've taken longer, but it was nice to see it there. He just needs grass now!

So like I said, I have been putting this post off for a long time now because I knew how emotional I would get while doing it (and I have-it's been very hard), but I do feel a little better now that I have actually written it out as it's not something I tend to talk about a whole lot.

So this is enough for tonight. Thanks for listening/reading!

I am not ready for this

My mom had the hospice nurse come over today. Over the past few days it has become increasingly more difficult for him to speak, his voice is so hoarse sounding. I talked to him briefly today and he didn't sound like my daddy at all. It has also become more difficult for him to swallow. When he will eat, his food has to be very soft and Mom said that he isn't wanting to eat much anymore. More recently (last day or so), he has become disoriented and confused. Not sure if this is because the cancer has spread to his brain or what, but they do say it's possible since the small cell lung cancer does spread to the brain and bone marrow pretty quickly. The hospice nurse told my mom what I have kind of suspected was the case...he has given up...he is not fighting this at all and because of that his body is starting to shut down. They said if he continues like this, at this rate, they do not expect him to live much past a month.

I want to tell him he needs to fight and not give up so quickly, that we need and want him to fight and be strong for as long as he can, but strangely enough I can say that I understand. We can't make him fight! He has to want to do it for himself. It's amazing how much your will to live makes such a difference, but it totally does. He told my mom that he is tired of suffering and that he doesn't want to go through what his mom went through and have it linger. He hates what it is doing to his family and hates seeing us all so upset and in pain. He doesn't talk about being afraid though.

I just want to scream!!! I am not ready for this!!! I was not expecting this to happen so soon. Like I said in my last post, I thought he would be more like himself for a couple of months and then it would slowly get worse, but that's obviously not the case. We are losing him so much faster than I thought we would and I am at a loss as to how to handle this. I think I am still in shock. I thought I would have longer to come to the realization that we are going to lose him. I don't know what to do, what I should be doing to help my mom, to help my dad, etc. I feel useless. I need to be busy and have things to focus on other than the fact that my daddy is going to die. I ask my mom how I can help her and she doesn't know what she should be doing either. I mean, we are working on taking care of lose ends, wills, life insurance, benefits, etc, but what else?? I am at a loss. I feel like I am in a very bad dream.

I did find an organization in the Houston area called CanCare where they match either patients or caregivers up with people that have been through similar situations with Cancer. I am trying to find someone for my mom to reach out to that knows what she is going through. Someone from the organization left me a voicemail today, so I will call them tomorrow and see what I can get arranged for my mom. After I have something for her, I will likely try and find something for me, but I need to look after her first ya know.

So I guess that is all for tonight. I am tired, although I doubt I will be able to sleep much. It has been rough falling asleep over the past few weeks, so I am really tired. I will take my friend's advice and try and end with a cute story. It helped my mom feel good when we spoke tonight!

Thomas and I took Caroline to the pool tonight and I finally sucked it up and let her go down the twisty slide in the kiddy area by herself. I almost had a heart attack, but she did great, had a blast, and probably did it about 20 times after that. I will try and get pictures the next time we go, but she amazes me how fearless she is! Wish some of that would rub off on me!

Not sure what I was expecting

But this isn't it! I think I thought that when they told us that my dad had 6 months to live, that we would have had more time with him as we knew him before than I think we are going to have. I guess I thought that he wasn't that bad when he came home from the hospital, but after several visits over there, I feel that that may not be the case. Maybe I am just naive, but I guess I thought things would be somewhat normal (as it could be) for a little bit before it got bad and maybe this is as normal as it could be, but this is just not what I was expecting. Maybe this is just what I was hoping for and had convinced myself would happen to help me get through the moment, but now I am seeing that he is not the same person as he was a few weeks ago and how could he be really?? Guess I was just not expecting to see this much deterioration this fast. Not sure this makes any sense, but these are just some feelings I have been struggling with this evening after spending some time over there today and thinking back on my past few visits.

So I don't get it...

So Caroline is normally a very social little girl, not shy and clingy at all, but when we got her hair trimmed this morning, the moment we stepped inside the place (which we have been to a few times now), she was not happy! She clinged to me like I have never seen before and when we had to start the actual haircut, you would have thought we were physically hurting her. She screamed, cried, reached for me and no amount of snacks, toys, nothing would help. We ended up giving her a lollipop and after a bit it helped and she calmed down. Her reaction to getting her hair cut was just so odd to me and out of character for her. She only reacts that way when we go to the dr. Does anyone else have kids that freak out like this?? Whay do you do?

We have a diagnosis...

We found out officially on Wednesday, July 15th after he was admitted back into the hospital the day before, because of now, what we think was a broken rib. After meeting with the oncologist, he diagnosed my dad with small cell lung cancer. This type of cancer typically spreads quickly, usually to the bone marrow and/or brain. We do not know if it has spread and he has decided not to have the MRI or bone marrow scans necessary to find out as he has decided not to pursue treatment. The oncologist indicated that patients with small cell lung cancer that do not receive treatment are not expected to live longer than 6 months.

We had a good conversation with the dr where we talked about the options and risks associated with treatment. I am sure it sounds crazy that he has decided to not even try treament and it did to me initially (and still may a bit), but this is the decision he has made. The fact that he has CLL adds serious complications to the situation and course of treatment. If he didn't have CLL, it would be somewhat less risky, but the fact that he does AND the fact that his body didn't handle even a very light dose of chemo the 1st time he had it makes things even more complicated and risky. The chemo he received the 1st time worked almost to well in that it has made his white blood cell count go through the roof over the past year or so, while his red blood cells and platelets are extremely low and not coming back up at the rate they should be. The dr indicated that they could not give him a low dose of chemo with this type of cancer, that they would have to be very aggessive. If his body reacted the same way it did the 1st time, he may not even survive the treatment. It would likely wipe out his platelets and red blood cells and if they didn't come back quick enough (or possibly at all), we would likely lose him pretty quickly at that point. His quality of life also played a huge role in his decision. He watched his mom battle cancer for 5 years and has said to us, repeatedly, that she had no quality of life during that time and that he hated watching what she went through. That was the only time I had ever seen him cry. It has so hard on him. He has said to us that he doesn't want to live his life like that and I understand that. He would rather spend as much good time with us as he can.

It is hard for me to say and I almost feel guilty in saying it, but I do understand and respect his decision and feel that he has made the right one. The risks associated with treatment are very high and if he proceeded down that path, we could lose him sooner and I am not ready for him to go! I feel that 6 months is better than nothing. I have had a really rough few days coming to terms with this and I am not real sure I there 100% (maybe I never will will be). I pray daily for the strength to be positive and strong for he and my mom and to enjoy the time I have left with him and not waste it being sad. I know in my head that this is what I need to do, but getting my heart to fall in line with this seems damn near impossible as I know, from going through this with my grandmother, that we have a very painful road ahead of us! So for now, I am trying to take it day by day and deal with what comes up.

One of my best friends gave me some really good advice the other day! She said to try and end your day by thinking of something good that happened that day, like something cute Caroline did or a hug by Thomas! I think this is wonderful advice and am trying to make it a point to do this throughout my day. I will try and do the same on the blog as well by posting some recent pics of Caroline!

No real news yet...

So we went to the dr with my dad last Tuesday to get the results from the thoracentesis. The test results came back inconclusive, so he had to go into the hospital for another procedure last Thursday where they went down his throat and took pieces of the masses for biopsy. They indicated it would be yet another 2-5 days until we get the results (go figure). We have a dr appt this Friday, so this will be a long week! Once we get the actual diagnosis, we can start discussing treatment options. The dr did say that his course of treatment could be tricky because his red blood cell and platelet counts are still so low from his 1st round of chemo he had a year or so ago for the leukemia. He seems to be feeling a little better with a bit more energy than he has had, but he still is feeling pretty bad I think. No update on the heart issues he is having. They want him to get this issue diagnosed 1st and then we would tackle that afterwards.

It's been hard putting my feelings about "not knowing" yet into words...it's like since I don't have a diagnosis yet, I still have this shred of hope that the dr will come back and say they were wrong and it's just plain pneumonia, but unfortunately I don't think that is too realistic at this point. I am having a hard time thinking about other things than this. Work is tough because it just isn't important right now, but I need it to try and keep my mind off of things even if it doesn't work all that great right now. Things like this really put things into perspective.

So I guess that's all for now. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers and just ask that you keep on praying for him.

A cute Caroline story to end on a positive note: she has started putting Thomas and I "to bed." It's really cute. She will come up behind us and push on us and tell us to "lay down." If you don't she gets frustrated with you for sure. When you do lay down, she will put blankets on you and lay down next to you and pat you (hard), while singing "goodnight mama, goodnight mama." If you get up before she is ready for you too, she will push you down and in a more firm voice, tell you to "lay down!" She does it to me, Thomas, and the dog. It's pretty stinking cute!

Haven't posted in awhile

I have not been real great at posting these days. We have had a rough week and I am only afraid it is going to get even more so. Things with my dad have not been improving as I had hoped they would. He went back to his PCP this past Tuesday for a follow-up visit and another chest x-ray. Results from the x-ray indicated that even though he had been on oral antibiotics and been receiving antibiotic shots for a couple of weeks now (btwn the 2), the pneumonia had gotten worse in one of this lungs, so they sent him right over to the hospital to be admitted. Our close friends watched Caroline so that we could go up to the hospital. (Thank you again!) When we got there, he was still in the triage area of the emergency room and they were giving him oxygen and an antibiotic via an IV. He had received a CT Scan of his chest earlier. They ran more tests the next day (blood work, EKG, etc). His oncologist came to see him the next morning and indicated that there was a mass in one of his lungs. They were not sure if is the pneumonia or some form of cancer (lung/lymphoma).

I went to the hospital Wednesday night after work and the pulmonary specialist finally showed up at about 8:00ish and basically indicated the same thing about the mass in his lungs. Although since I got to hear it for myself, it sounded to me like the probability of it being the pneumonia was less likely. The doctors know what these things look like....They also indicated that that they saw signs of COPD/emphysema because of his 50+ years of smoking.

They ran a thoracentesis Thursday morning which is a procedure where they extract fluid from the space between the lungs and the chest wall. Thomas and I went up to the hospital today for a bit and got to see both his oncologist and pulmonary drs. They finally released him from the hospital, but not before telling him that he has Aortic Valve Stenosis, which is the narrowing of the aortic valve. He will need to see a cardiologist for that early next week as well. What else is going to be thrown our way...isn't it enough that he may have cancer??

We have not gotten the actual results back from the thoracentesis yet, but the drs seem to be preparing us for the fact that it is cancer. We are supposed to have a dr appt Tuesday of next week with the pulmonary dr where we will hopefully get some answers. I want to just stop time right now and go back and erase this past week. I am trying so hard to remain positive and strong for my parents and I think I have done an okay job at that, but it's incredibly hard! That's my daddy they are talking about and seeing him in that hospital bed broke my heart. I am so scared! I want Caroline to know her Pa Pa and truly understand what a wonderful, loving man he is and for her to know how absolutely in love with her he is. When I talk about her or when he sees her, his face lights up...

So I guess that's all for now. Sure wish this blog wasn't turning into what it has been about so far. ..I will rey and be better with posting.

Nothing like starting your day out with a little torture...

So I have been going to physical therapy for my elbows 2 times a week for the past few weeks and I tell ya it's close to torture sometimes! Not a fun way to start your day! I have these random pains in my elbows. Could be arthritis due to my sjogren's syndrome, but who knows. A few years ago it was my left elbow. After dealing with the issue off and on for close to a year I had surgery. They were unable to figure out what was causing it and eventually it went away. I got so used to accommodating for the fact that I could not straighten my arm out, my muscles were and continue to be very weak. Now the same issues are happening with my right elbow. It gets so bad that I can't get my elbow past a 90 degree angle (if that, when it's really bad). This makes caring for a toddler somewhat difficult to say the least. My rheumatologist put me on a high(ish) dose of steroids which worked wonders. Luckily I wasn't on the meds too long because there are some crazy side effects from steroids! So, the dr ordered the PT to try and prevent my right arm from getting as bad as my left. It does seem to be working, but it's hard, especially after going a few days without it. Hopefully it doesn't keep coming back like it did with the left, but we shall see huh?!

So any Bachelor/Bachelorette Fans out there? I am embarrassed to admit, but I don't think I have missed a season of this stupid show since it started. Why I waste my time watching this crap is a mystery to me, but I can't help it. It's like a car wreck on the freeway that you just can't help but stare at when you drive by! I can't help but laugh when the people in the beginning get so upset when they get the boot and talk about how "in love" they were. Seriously..give me a break. So, the previews make the upcoming episodes of this season look pretty juicy! Make it look like one guy has some "issues" in the bedroom! (wink! wink!) They always show everything out of context, so it's probably just some guy not wanting to stay in the "fantasy suite" with her or something as equally lame as that. The foot fetish guy was a big crazy tool and I am glad she got rid of him. I think he was still there for the ratings. The Wes guy seems like a tool as well. Sounds like he is only there to boost his singing career. If I hear that stupid song he wrote for her again, I'll have to hurt myself!

When you thought it couldn't get any worse, it has...they are starting a new bachelorette-like show for the heavy-set. I read an article about that show and they said it's a "dating show for the rest of us!" LOL!

This blog hasn't turned into much about life with a toddler much huh?

Happy Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day weekend! My company gave out free tickets to the zoo this weekend, so we ventured out Saturday morning before it got too terribly hot. I HATE being hot and can be huge whiner when out in the heat, but I have to admit it wasn't so bad since we got there when it 1st open at 9 AND as long as we were in the shade. Caroline's favorite animal was the tiger! The tiger was actually sleeping when we went by the exhibit, but she kept yelling "tigga, tigga" and continued to do at all of the cat exhibits, whether it be a leopard, lion, jaguar whatever...she kept calling for "tigga!" She also really liked the zebra, elephants, and giraffe. She kept doing the signs for elephant and giraffe and making the sounds for all of the various animals we saw. She loved the petting zoo (or "goat petting") and got into their big water bowl at one point. She has this fascination with water bowls...we can't leave Bo's water out at home or she will be all into it. She even tipped over one of my dad's bird baths today and got quite a surprise and was pretty soaked!

Sunday we went to church and lunch with the Martins and Dunhams. Kate and Caroline sat together at lunch and I totally felt sorry for the people that had to clean up after them! I am sure they were cursing us by the time we left...I know I would have! There was food everywhere! After lunch we went over to my folk's house. I got my dad some stuff for his new found hobby since retirement....birds! I swear I think all retired people love birds. It must be a prerequisite for retirement. So my dad seems to be doing a little better, but just looks so pale to me. I am going to take him to the dr tomorrow for his antibiotic shots. My mom's uncle passed away early this morning, so she will be headed up to Dallas and flying out with my aunt to Arizona on Tuesday. It was a total battle to get him to "agree" to let me take him to the dr tomorrow, but I finally wore him down I think and am just going to show up. He surely won't turn me down then.

I am excited about the cool gift I got Thomas for Father's Day! It's a cooking class for us at this place called Hubbell and Husdon in The Woodlands! Thomas is an amazing cook, so I thought this would be fun for us to try out. We will be cooking lobster, steak, asparagus, soufflés. I will probably not do all the great, but should be fun!

I will end this post tonight by saying that I am very lucky to have Thomas in my life and the father of my children. He is such a wonderful father and I love nothing more in this world than to see he and Caroline together. Her eyes light up when her father walks in the room! So here are some of my favorite pictures of them together! Enjoy!

So I changed the title!

I don't need people thinking I am pregnant quite yet, so I changed the title of the blog. It's not very creative, but oh well.

So update on my dad...he actually went yesterday and got the x-ray done and the dr indicated that he had double pneumonia (pneumonia in both lungs). Normally they would put people with double pneumonia in the hospital, but with him having leukemia, the dr was very hesitant to do for fear of him catching something else. So..they are loading him up on antibiotics. He gets antibiotics via 2 shots every day, as well as the ones he is taking orally. He is supposed to do this through Friday and depending on how things are Friday, maybe even over the weekend. Talked to him tonight and he thinks he may be feeling a little bit better, but not much. We actually had to end our conversation tonight because he was coughing so much he thought he would throw up. KILLS me to hear him like this! His dr was also supposed to be talking to his oncologist today because he thinks that dad may need another round of chemo after he gets through this, which is contradictory to what the oncologist told them last week. So more to come on all of this. Thanks for your kind words and prayers! =)

My mom needed a break from my dad yesterday, who apparently is a very difficult patient, so she picked up Caroline early from daycare and came back to our house. Caroline just loves her Mimi. They had a blast together. It is so sweet to see them together. Mom brought her several new books for us to read to her. I hope that she decides she likes these new books because we are getting tired of reading the same books over and over again multiple times a day! There are a couple of the books that are just plain dumb and I even found some spacing errors in the book. She is VERY particular about the books she likes to read. What is funny is that she will hand you the books she wants you to read and then get upset and throw a small fit if it turns out to be one she doesn't like. One of the books she really likes is the Richard Scary's Big Book of Words. She likes the Zoo page and can actually point to all of the animals as you name them and say most of the animal names on the 2 pages. It's pretty freaking amazing to me! I have this on video and will post it once I figure that out too!

Are there any So You Think You Can Dance fans out there? I am a HUGE fan of this show! This season has started out to be one of the best I have seen. It's "buck!" Thomas refuses to watch the show...he says he will lose his man card, so I have to go to our bedroom to watch. (eye roll) I hope they go on tour again after this season. I am so there! Watching the show makes me want Caroline to want to dance so bad!! Can't wait to start her in dance classes...she will look cute in her little ballet outfits!

Well that's all for tonight!

Does the title of my blog make it sound like I am pregnant?

Thomas told me last night when I named this thing that he thought it did and then my 1st ever comment on here said the same thing. I guess I could change it if I could figure out how...let me know what you think if anyone else actually reads this thing!

So I had a rough day today. My dad has been sick all weekend. My mom was able to get him to the dr today. So the dr sends him over to get a chest xray and he ended up leaving the freakin office before he got the x-ray done because he had been waiting for 30 minutes! I was so upset when my mom told me this. I worry about him so much. He has Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, which affects a lymphocyte in his bone marrow. It develops in the lymph nodes, and normally fights infection. In CLL, the DNA of the cell is damaged, so that it can't fight infection, but it grows out of control and crowds out the healthy blood cells that can fight infection. The dr says he has a really bad sinus infection, but wanted him to have the x-ray to determine if he has pneumonia or not, which they think he does. After talking with him tonight, he says he will go get the x-ray done tomorrow, but who knows what he will do when tomorrow gets here. I think he is worried that this may be something more serious. He kept saying he was more concerned about what the follow-up x-ray would show after the infection had cleared up. He is a smoker and has been for the majority of his life, so I think he thinks he may have lung cancer. I am trying to be positive, but I can't seem to get the thought out of my mind that it is more serious. I know there is no reason at this point to I pray that it is not anything more serious. So...... keep my dad in your prayers if you don't mind.

Well I caved...

and have joined the world of blogging! I will warn you now, I am not a funny, creative writer like some people I know that have blogs, but think this is a great way to keep family and friends updated on what is going on in our crazy little world! Like my profile said, being a mom is the most amazing and challenging experience in my life (so far). I work full time, so add that into the mix and things get hectic! So welcome and I hope you enjoy!

This weekend was pretty low key, which is nice for a change! Got Caroline's 19 month pictures taken on Saturday. I went in with pretty low expectations thinking that she would be all over the place and I was right, she was, but the photographer was very good and got some great shots! Once I figure out this site, I will post some for you to see! Thanks to my MIL who came and helped out with Caroline AND took us to lunch! Went and had Mexican food Saturday night and Caroline was super cute as she flirted with everyone in the resturant. Thomas tried to teach her to say "Hola" to the waitress and she actually said it a few times.

Today we took a family outting to the grocery store and it was entertaining to say the least. I could hear Caroline screaming "mommy" several aisles over on a few different occassions. Went to the pool after both of us took naps. I was exhausted and slept for 3 hours! The pool was fun. Caroline really likes it. Thomas takes her down the slide over and over again. I need to suck it up and let her go down by herself (with us at the bottom to catch her-of course) but what can I say, I am one of those annoyingly overprotective moms and am not ready for that yet, but feel I will get there soon enough. I also have pictures of this as well and will post one of these days!I know the overprotactive things is annoying, but hey I least I can admit it's a problem and that's the 1st step huh??


Have a very busy week ahead of us! Caroline starts a new room at daycare tomorrow and I pray that it's better than the room she has been in! More to come on that I am sure....